The verified answer
As of Oct 2026, DEPLOY verifies Kepler Robotics: 2 models, 2 deployments across 1 region, $28.0M raised. 3 sources back the record.
CategoryHumanoids
Overview
Shanghai-based humanoid robotics company (Shanghai Kepler Robot Co., Ltd.) building the Forerunner K2 "Bumblebee" — an industrial-grade bipedal humanoid with proprietary planetary roller screw actuators, 52 DoF, 15 kg per-arm payload, and 8-hour single-charge endurance. Founded in 2023 by CEO Debo Hu, Kepler targets manufacturing, logistics, and inspection applications, with confirmed deployments at a SAIC-GM automotive plant in Shanghai.
Mass production of the K2 began in September 2025 at RMB 248,000 per unit, and the company was acquired by Hangzhou Kolin Electric (51% controlling stake) in May 2026.
Reality check
Financials (company-claimed, 2025)
Revenue RMB 4.34M; net loss RMB 66.9M; orders RMB 47M+.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 2 deployments on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Valuation of record
DEPLOY VERIFIEDPriced roundSeries A extension post-money
Key facts
Founded
CEO
Products
Control (reported, May 2026)
Data & sources
Web sources
3
3 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (2)
View all models →Current platform
Kepler Forerunner K2
Full-sized general-purpose humanoid robot with cloud-based cognitive model and embodied control system. Features enhanced dynamic perception, full-body coordinated operation, autonomous learning, and improved gait planning. Designed for intelligent manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and high-risk operations. K2 Bumblebee variant in mass production as of 2025.
Current platform
K2 Bumblebee
Kepler Robotics (legally Shanghai Kepler Exploration Robot; founded 2023 in Pudong, Shanghai; CEO Hu Debo) makes the K2 Bumblebee, a fifth-generation full-size industrial humanoid notable for its proprietary planetary roller-screw linear actuators and a straight-knee hybrid gait. Verified specs include 175 cm, 75 kg, 52 degrees of freedom, 80-plus sensors, 100 TOPS of onboard compute, about 15 kg of payload per arm, and roughly eight hours of runtime, at a list price of RMB 248,000 (about $34,000). It was shown independently at ICRA 2025, and units entered real-world testing at an SAIC-GM auto plant in Shanghai for quality checks and material-bin transport, corroborated across multiple outlets; the company is now reportedly controlled by the A-share-listed Tao Motor via acquisition. The registry records it at pilot maturity rather than commercial: Kepler's own 'world's first commercially available' and 'mass production' framing names zero end customers and quantifies demand only as framework agreements for several thousand units, which is a claim rather than booked orders. The strongest verifiable signal is the SAIC-GM plant testing, not a commercial supply contract, so volume shipments, the unnamed framework agreements, and a secondary-blog wheel-hub deployment are recorded as claimed-but-not-verified.
Partnerships
Every company Kepler Robotics has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most-frequent partners
- 1Hangzhou Kolin Electric1× joint
Most recent
- with Hangzhou Kolin Electricoperating
Kepler Robotics on the deployment map
View the global map2 verified deployments across 1 region, newest verified Sep 2025. Explore where Kepler Robotics's robots are operating, by place and type.
View the full Kepler Robotics deployment record →
Relationships
Current leadership (2)
- Pang Jiangbo Founder & CEO, Kepler Robotsecondary-verified
- Liu Yao Co-Founder, CEOsince 2022-01-01secondary-verified
Founders (2)
Former / Previously (1)
- Debo Hu CEO & Co-founder, Co-foundersecondary-verified
Safety record
No incidents on record for Kepler Robotics.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Operator customers (1)
- Kepler Robotics2 deployments
Recent coverage
Kepler Robotics in third-party press
Peers
147 peers across 1 segment. Every Kepler Robotics competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
humanoid(147)
68 companies in this segment · competitive (HHI 574.5255335898561) · leader Figure AI at 1207%
- 1X Technologiesdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- 1X Technologiesdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- 1X Technologiesdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AI2 Roboticsdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AI2 Roboticsdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AIST Humanoid Research Groupdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
Mentioned on (4)
Registry pages whose text names Kepler Robotics.
Robots and products (1)
Financial state
- Total funding
- $28.0M
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- early
- Counterparty risk class
- moderate
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Partnerships
1 total · 1 operating
Every company Kepler Robotics has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most recent
- with Hangzhou Kolin Electricoperating
Most-frequent partners
- 1Hangzhou Kolin Electric1× joint
All 1 partnerships
open in the atlas →- Kepler Robotics x Hangzhou Kolin Electric (acquisition)withHangzhou Kolin Electricinvestment2026-05-19operating
Funding rounds (5)
Kepler Robotics’s 3 disclosed rounds, $128M in total, oldest to newest.
- Series A extension2026-04-01
$14M(reported) · $84M post
Investors: Noblelift Intelligent Equipment (strategic)
- Strategic2026-02-01
$14M(reported) · $112M post
Investors: Hangzhou Kolin Electric (lead)
- Series A2025-06-01
Investors: Zhejiang Zhaofeng (strategic), Hanwei Technology (strategic)
- Series B2024-03-01
$100M(reported) · $800M post
Investors: GL Ventures (Hillhouse Ventures) (lead), Qiming Venture Partners, Matrix Partners China
- Series Pre-A2023-06-01
Investors: Qiming Venture Partners, Matrix Partners China
Timeline
Every recorded move in Kepler Robotics’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
PartnershipKepler Robotics x Hangzhou Kolin Electric (acquisition)
2026-05-19Hangzhou Kolin Electric acquired a 51% controlling stake in Kepler Robotics for up to RMB 300 million, making Kepler a consolidated subsidiary. Hangzhou Kolin is a STAR Market-listed electrical equipment company seeking to expand into robotics.
Funding roundSeries A extension funding round
2026-04-01Series A extension raising $14000000
Funding roundStrategic funding round
2026-02-01Strategic raising $14000000
Funding roundSeries A funding round
2025-06-01Series A
Funding roundSeries B funding round
2024-03-01Series B raising $100000000
Funding roundSeries Pre-A funding round
2023-06-01Series Pre-A
Key hireLiu Yao joins as Co-Founder, CEO
2022-01-01Liu Yao appointed Co-Founder, CEO (current)
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdJul 29, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 5, 2026
Kepler Forerunner K2 humanoid
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedSep 1, 2025
K2 Bumblebee at Shanghai, China
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJul 1, 2025
Kepler Forerunner K2 at Shanghai, China
Sources (3)
- https://humanoidroboticstechnology.com/news/shanghai-kepler-robotics-co-ltd-debuts-forerunner-k2-humanoid-robot/
- https://autonews.gasgoo.com/articles/news/breaking-a-share-listed-company-takes-controlling-stake-in-kepler-robotics-2057085204311756800
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kepler-exploration-robotics_keplerk2bumblebee-humanoidrobotics-massproduction-activity-7374759815266484224-kpTK
Common questions
What is Kepler Robotics?
What does Kepler Robotics make?
Is Kepler Robotics publicly traded?
Who competes with Kepler Robotics?
Who is the CEO of Kepler Robotics?
How can I invest in Kepler Robotics?
Where is Kepler Robotics headquartered?
How much funding has Kepler Robotics raised?
Who owns Kepler Robotics?
Where does Kepler Robotics operate robots?
How many robots has Kepler Robotics deployed?
Is Kepler Robotics a top robotics company?
Is Kepler Robotics safe?
Methodology: Verified · 3 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-10-12
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-10-12
Sources by quality tier
- 3
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Kepler Robotics.Peer companies
- Unitree Robotics12 models
- DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics6 models
- Dobot6 models
- 1X Technologies5 models
- AgiBot5 models
- AheadForm5 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Kepler Robotics from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Cancom SE (CCCMF) Presents at Kepler Cheuvreux IT Value-Added-Reseller (VAR) Day 2026 - Slideshow
Maverick Books 10 Kepler Sats to Fill Excess Capacity On Portal’s Dedicated Launch
Everybody’s looking for launch capacity these days, and for those who have it, the phones are ringing off the hook. The post Maverick Books 10 Kepler Sats to Fill Excess Capacity…
OÖ: Neues KI-Zentrum wird mit 2,1 Millionen Euro/Jahr ausgestattet
Auf dem Campus der Johannes Kepler Universität in Linz entsteht ein „Center of Excellence for Physical and Industrial AI“. Das Land Oberösterreich stellt dafür in den kommenden…
A Stealth Startup Thinks It Just Hacked the Memory Shortage
Kepler Computing claims a new approach to chip design—and a proprietary material—can help end the supply bottlenecks that have sent memory prices surging.
Startup Funding News Today, September 1, 2026: VAST, Gridsight, Airbility, Kepler Aerospace & More
A $446 million AI financing in China, a $26 million bet on overloaded electricity grids, and fresh capital for counter-drone aircraft set the tone for startup funding on September…
Indian space startup Kepler raises $8m for ISR satellites
It will also be used to scale Kepler’s Mission Operations as a Service and Avionics as a Service businesses.
Kepler Enters Optical Tech Partnership, Hosted Payload Agreement with NorthStar
Kepler Communications will combine its optical data relay infrastructure with NorthStar’s Space Domain Awareness (SDA) services under the terms of a new strategic partnership the…
Kepler Launches Service on its New Optical Data Relay Constellation
Kepler Communications is now offering service from the next-generation optical data relay network constellation to global commercial and government customers, the operator…
Kepler Robotics Unveils K2 Bumblebee at IROS 2025, Building a Global Developer Ecosystem
Kepler launches developer platform with full-stack openness, Nebula OS access, and Kepler Studio at IROS 2025 in Hangzhou.
World's First Commercially Available Hybrid-Architecture Humanoid Robot Moves Into Mass Production: Kepler Marks the Start of a New Industrial Era
Kepler announces mass production of K2 Bumblebee, the first commercially available hybrid-architecture humanoid robot, priced at RMB 248,000 with framework agreements for several…
Kepler's Forerunner K2 'Bumblebee' Robot Completes 8-Hour Livestream at WAIC 2025
K2 Bumblebee completes industry's first 8-hour nonstop livestream by a bipedal humanoid robot at WAIC 2025 in Shanghai, demonstrating 1-hour charge, 8-hour operation endurance.
Humanoid robots handle quality checks and assembly at auto plant
Kepler Robotics deploys Forerunner K2 Bumblebee humanoid robots at the SAIC-GM automotive plant in Shanghai for quality checks and assembly tasks.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/kepler-robot.md
- RSS feed: /companies/kepler-robot/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/cffbd27f-a2e2-499e-b992-79c240f03b13
- Revision history: /companies/kepler-robot/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Unitree Robotics12 models
- DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics6 models
- Dobot6 models
- 1X Technologies5 models
- AgiBot5 models
- AheadForm5 models
Video
FRC team Orbit 1690 from Binyamina, Israel, presents its 2026 robot for the game REBUILT! Huge thanks to all of our sponsors mentors and parents for helping us
Kepler Exploration Robot recently unveiled its latest innovation, the Kepler Forerunner series of general-purpose humanoid robots. This advanced humanoid stands
Kepler’s humanoid robot makes its debut at SAIC-GM, kicking off real-world scenario testing across industrial applications. From precision task execution to int
The Kepler robot is equipped with self-developed planetary roller screw actuators that use dual encoders and force sensors to achieve precise and smooth control
Unmatched precision and dexterity—just like a human hand! 🔹 11 Degrees of Freedom per Hand 🔹 25 High-Resolution Force Sensing Touchpoints per Finger 🔹 Effort
Discover KEPLER K2 Bumblebee — a next-gen humanoid robot with embodied AI, 8-hour runtime: https://www.gotokepler.com/home China’s WAIC 2025 just unveiled th
Kepler Robotics has commenced mass production of the K2 Bumblebee, the world’s first commercially available humanoid robot powered by Tesla’s hybrid architectur
In this video, I review general-purpose robots designed to handle a wide range of tasks. We take a close look at current humanoid robots, what they can actually
The Kepler humanoid robot made its debut at CES 2024, attracting a huge crowd on the spot! It's a great honor to have the visit of Satya Nadella, the Chairman a
Kepler K2 Bumblebee – a big milestone for low-cost humanoid robots. Kepler K2 Bumblebee – a big milestone for low-cost humanoid robots. The impressive thing is
Discover how Kepler Robotics is pushing the boundaries of AI and robotics to create the machines of tomorrow. From advanced automation to real-world application
Should robots take over high-risk jobs to protect humans? Share your thoughts in the comments. As a direct competition to Elon Musk’s Tesla Optimus, Kepler Ro
Kepler K2 “Bumblebee” demonstrates the world’s first human–robot collaborative high-altitude welding operation. In this real-world industrial scenario, K2 takes
Kepler K2 “Bumblebee” is now working on the real production line at Zhaofeng Motor: • Autonomous navigation on the factory floor • Rapid deployment with Kepler
SHANGHAI, Sept. 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Kepler Robotics Co., Ltd. ("Kepler Robotics") today announced the successful completion of a major gait upgrad
And if you think humanoid robots are just clumsy gimmicks, take a look at Shanghai's Kepler Robotics. Their Bumblebee model walks with straight knees, just like
Heat Index
Category contender77/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
Kepler Robotics draws attention at the 84th percentile but verifies reality at the 45th percentile among humanoids. Hype Gap +39.3, 16th widest among humanoids.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 2 verified deployments. Well-capitalized with $128M raised and recent funding activity. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Oct 17, 2026