What is Kepler Robotics?

Chinese humanoid-robot maker (Shanghai; founded 2023) of the K2 'Bumblebee' full-size industrial humanoid; reportedly controlled by Tao Motor (M&A).

Where is Kepler Robotics based?

Kepler Robotics is based in Shanghai, China.

When was Kepler Robotics founded?

Kepler Robotics was founded in 2023.

What does Kepler Robotics make?

Kepler Robotics has 1 robot model on the DEPLOY registry: K2 Bumblebee (Kepler Robotics builds both physical robots and the AI that runs them).

Where does Kepler Robotics operate robots?

Kepler Robotics is a robot manufacturer and does not directly operate deployments on the DEPLOY registry. Its products are deployed by customer operators; see the company page for the verified deployment record.

Is Kepler Robotics safe?

Kepler Robotics has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.

Kepler Robotics

Key facts

Product

K2 'Bumblebee' Gen-5 industrial humanoid; roller-screw actuators; RMB 248,000.

Status

Pilot: real-world testing at SAIC-GM plant; framework agreements unnamed.

Parent/Controlling Entity

Tao Motor (reportedly, via M&A)

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Data & sources

Press releases1
News coverage1
Web sources2

4 sources backing this record.View all →

Models (1)

View all models →

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.

humanoidView model →

Relationships

GGL Ventures (Hillhouse Ventures)Investor QQiming Venture PartnersInvestor MMatrix Partners ChinaInvestor SSAIC General MotorsCustomer

Current leadership (1)

Liu Yao Co-Founder, CEOsince 2022-01-01secondary-verified

Founders (1)

Liu Yaocofounderfounded 2022-01-01

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.

Operator customers (1)

SAIC General Motors1 deployment

Peer companies

Unitree Robotics9 models
Boston Dynamics5 models
AgiBot4 models
Tesla4 models
1X Technologies3 models
Agility Robotics3 models

Financial state

Reporting basis: aggregator_estimate
Lifecycle stage: growth
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.

Funding rounds (2)

Series B2024-03-01
$100M(reported)
Investors: GL Ventures (Hillhouse Ventures) (lead), Qiming Venture Partners, Matrix Partners China
Series Pre-A2023-06-01
Investors: Qiming Venture Partners, Matrix Partners China

Sources (4)

Common questions

What is Kepler Robotics?: Chinese humanoid-robot maker (Shanghai; founded 2023) of the K2 'Bumblebee' full-size industrial humanoid; reportedly controlled by Tao Motor (M&A).
Where is Kepler Robotics based?: Kepler Robotics is based in Shanghai, China.
When was Kepler Robotics founded?: Kepler Robotics was founded in 2023.
What does Kepler Robotics make?: Kepler Robotics has 1 robot model on the DEPLOY registry: K2 Bumblebee (Kepler Robotics builds both physical robots and the AI that runs them).
Where does Kepler Robotics operate robots?: Kepler Robotics is a robot manufacturer and does not directly operate deployments on the DEPLOY registry. Its products are deployed by customer operators; see the company page for the verified deployment record.
Is Kepler Robotics safe?: Kepler Robotics has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.

Methodology: Verified · 4 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-03

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-03

Sources by quality tier

2: unclassified; Unclassified source
1: secondary-trade-publication; Trade publication
1: primary-company-ir; Company IR disclosure

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Peer companies

Unitree Robotics9 models
Boston Dynamics5 models
AgiBot4 models
Tesla4 models
1X Technologies3 models
Agility Robotics3 models

No press coverage on file for Kepler Robotics yet. Coverage appears here automatically as articles are ingested from our press sources.

Machine-readable surfaces

Markdown mirror: /companies/kepler.md
RSS feed: /companies/kepler/feed.xml
JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
REST API: /v1/companies/63df6632-c8a1-4a49-ba31-5c46755c1e23
Revision history: /companies/kepler/history
Data documentation: /data
Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP

Peer companies

Unitree Robotics9 models
Boston Dynamics5 models
AgiBot4 models
Tesla4 models
1X Technologies3 models
Agility Robotics3 models

DEPLOY Intelligence Score

35.3/ 100

vs 6 months ago

6-month trend

Peer rankingTop 28% of Humanoid

vs funding peers+0.3 ptscapital-efficient

Analysis

Clean safety record across 1 verified deployment. Limited public visibility and press coverage relative to peers.

Signal flags

New deploymentFunding gap >24mo

Dimension breakdown

Safety Record

95.0MED

Funding Health

36.2HIGH

Deployment Scale

17.8MED

IP Activity

5.0LOW

Hiring Signal

0.0LOW

Market Presence

0.0LOW

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.

Last computed: Jul 3, 2026

Intelligence layer