"Spring Festival Gala's Top Star" Sparks a New Capital Boom Galaxy General and Songyan Power Raise 3.5 Billion Yuan to Win the Humanoid Robot Battle

From the Year of the Horse CCTV Spring Festival Gala to major satellite TV galas, humanoid robots have repeatedly taken center stage, becoming the undisputed protagonists. They practice martial arts, perform backflips, act in skits alongside humans, and autonomously complete everyday tasks such as folding clothes and fetching objects. The intense exposure of robots on stage quickly resonated in the capital markets.

On March 2, both “actors” on the Year of the Horse Gala stage announced new rounds of funding. Galaxy General Robotics announced the completion of a 2.5 billion yuan (approximately $400 million) new funding round, breaking its previous record of $300 million (about 2.1 billion RMB) set in December 2025 for China’s embodied intelligence single-round funding. On the same day, Songyan Power announced the completion of a Series B financing round totaling nearly 1 billion yuan (about $150 million).

The wave of capital enthusiasm is once again surging toward the embodied intelligence sector. Behind the lively funding activity, a brutal industry淘汰赛 has already begun.

“2026 will be a year for the embodied robot industry to sift out falsehoods and accelerate reshuffling,” said郭涛, an angel investor and senior AI expert, in an interview with Daily Economic News. He pointed out that as industry giants in automotive and mobile phone manufacturing leverage mature supply chains, vast data, and manufacturing capabilities, the industry will shift from a conceptual “toy era” to a practical “tool era.”

When stage lights go out, the real test has just begun.

From “eye-catching” to “money-making,” Galaxy General and Songyan Power are the first to realize the Gala “dividends.”

Behind the proliferation of robots on stage is a tacit strategic consensus among major companies: the Spring Festival Gala has become a high-traffic battleground that must be seized.

Previously, Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst of iiMedia Research, told Daily Economic News that robots appearing on CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala can transmit industry influence to the capital level. With the technical scenarios backed by CCTV, this certainty enhances investor confidence in the sector and accelerates investment deployment.

In fact, the wealth creation myth in this sector has long been visible.

In 2016, UBTECH’s 540 robots danced simultaneously, triggering multiple subsequent funding rounds. By 2025, Yushu Technology, with just a 3-minute stage performance, achieved a market miracle with over 5,500 units shipped annually and a valuation soaring to 12 billion yuan.

By 2026, Galaxy General and Songyan Power became the earliest winners to realize dividends in this traffic race.

On the Gala stage, Galaxy General’s Galbot G1 robot, relying on its self-developed “Galaxy Star Brain” system, performs a series of delicate operations such as cracking walnuts,串烤肠,拾玻璃碎片, and folding clothes, becoming the first robot in Gala history to truly achieve “autonomous work.” Meanwhile, Songyan Power left a vivid impression with high-difficulty street dance, the “long-necked” E1, and a bionic robot resembling actress蔡明.

Just half a month after the Gala, both companies announced major funding rounds.

On March 2, Galaxy General announced a new round of financing of 2.5 billion yuan, with investors including “national teams” and industry capital. Galaxy General stated that after this round, its total funding remains the highest in China’s embodied intelligence field, further consolidating its leading position as the highest-valued unlisted humanoid robot company.

On the same day, Songyan Power announced the completion of Series B funding, led by CATL’s industry platform晨道资本, with follow-on investments from Guoke Investment, Jingguo Sheng Fund, and others, totaling nearly 1 billion yuan.

However, an undeniable reality is that the marginal effect of Gala traffic is rapidly diminishing. As robots continue to appear on stage and audiences’ novelty wanes, only perfect stage performances are no longer enough to impress viewers and investors.

“Since the beginning of this year, robots have gained very high recognition in the funding wave. This is driven by dual factors of value validation and strategic positioning,” said Zhang Yi. He pointed out that with the popularity of Gala robots this year, technological implementation has shifted from concept to reality. Capital focus has also shifted from past conceptual hype to tangible, verifiable commercial value, emphasizing ROI and specific application scenarios. The first echelon of embodied intelligence is thus widely sought after.

Paths for capital diverge; the “true or false” test begins.

Specifically, Galaxy General and Songyan Power each focus on different development directions, as reflected in their disclosed funding announcements, revealing two distinct investment logics in the humanoid robot sector.

Galaxy General’s 2.5 billion yuan new round of funding, led by the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund (the third phase of the National Big Fund), involves China National Petroleum, SAIC Financial Holdings, SMIC Juyuan, Yizhuang State Investment, and other state and industry capital. It is said to be the first time a national-level AI industry fund has invested in the embodied intelligence sector, positioning embodied intelligence as a core strategic emerging industry.

Behind the capital chase, Galaxy General has built what is claimed to be the world’s largest billion-yuan-level embodied intelligence data set, pioneering a virtual-real融合 training paradigm dominated by synthetic simulation data with real machine data as a supplement. Its自主研发的“银河星脑” connects multi-modal perception to real-time control, solving industry long-standing issues such as modular fragmentation and response lag. It is the world’s first end-to-end embodied large model integrating “brain—cerebellum—neural control.”

Galaxy General states that in industrial manufacturing, it has partnered with clients like CATL, Bosch Germany, and Toyota, with cumulative orders reaching thousands. Its industrial heavy-duty robot Galbot S1 is the only humanoid robot to achieve normal operation in CATL’s battery factory. In the民生领域, the “Galaxy Space Cabin” convenience stores have been established in over 20 cities with more than 100 stores, setting a global record for continuous 24/7 operation of instant retail warehouses for over a year.

Songyan Power’s Series B financing reflects a very different investment logic. Led by CATL’s industry platform晨道资本, as an industry capital deeply involved in clean energy and intelligent manufacturing, the core goal is to seek industrial chain synergy and ecological positioning.

Songyan Power’s differentiation lies in its consumer market layout. As the only company in the industry with both bipedal humanoid and bionic humanoid product lines, it believes the ultimate goal of humanoid robots is strong interaction and emotional resonance, with bionic technology key to opening the家庭消费市场. The company holds over 30 core patents, has built a dedicated mass production base, and launched the industry’s first high-performance humanoid robot “Xiaobu Mi” priced at ten thousand yuan, testing the incremental space of the C-end market with high cost-performance.

The early 2026 wave of financing has accelerated the “landing” process of humanoid robots and raised demands for companies to clarify their positioning.

郭涛, an angel investor and senior AI expert, said that this funding boom results from the resonance of policies, technology, and market expectations. Embodied intelligence has been included in the national “14th Five-Year Plan,” with clear policy direction; future demand for intelligent robots could reach hundreds of millions of units, far surpassing the automotive industry; over 90% of hardware is自主研发, core components are accelerating国产化, and commercialization conditions are becoming more mature. Multiple factors are driving the industry from early concept exploration into a critical period of technological implementation and commercial application.

He also emphasized that the industry is rapidly shifting from a conceptual “toy era” to a practical “tool era.” This transition means that companies lacking core technology, mass production capacity, and application scenarios will gradually be淘汰. “This year is a crucial node for humanoid robot commercialization, but full普及 still has a distance: in the short term, automotive manufacturing and 3C electronics are expected to lead the breakthrough. Large-scale commercialization still faces challenges like technological maturity, cost control, and safety standards.”

In郭涛’s view, the 2026 embodied intelligence sector will see more cautious capital, favoring leading companies with mass production capabilities and market prospects, making it harder for startups to raise funds. Meanwhile, the entry of giants raises competition thresholds, and market share will concentrate among companies with technological, cost, and scenario advantages. Many small and medium startups may be pushed out due to insufficient competitiveness.

As the traffic dividend on stage diminishes, this race for technological, mass production, scenario, and business capabilities among top players is entering a decisive stage.