Unitree Robotics, a Chinese startup, is set for a landmark initial public offering (IPO) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, priced at 150.8 yuan ($22.3) per share, with strategic investments from AI developer DeepSeek, an arm of China National Petroleum Corp., and a Tencent subsidiary, valuing the firm at 61 billion yuan. The company plans to issue 40.4 million shares, equal to 10% of its enlarged share capital, and expects to raise net proceeds of about 5.9 billion yuan. The IPO's price-to-earnings ratio is 219.23 times, vastly exceeding the industry average of 38.56. The Shanghai Stock Exchange accepted the application on March 20, the listing committee reviewed it by June 1, and the CSRC granted approval by July 2, making the entire process 104 days. Subscriptions open on Aug. 10 following an online roadshow on Aug. 7. The high valuation beat initial expectations; Zheng Juncong of Vertex Ventures China, an investor since 2020, expected a final valuation of only 3 to 5 billion yuan when Unitree's robot dogs could only perform simple actions, but the AI era created a trillion-yuan market and resulted in a 100-fold return on Vertex's investment. Founded in 2016, Unitree initially focused on robot dogs and launched the H1 in 2023, followed by the G1 in May 202