Direct-drive module leader BENDI Tech launches HK IPO, revenue tripled in three years but still loss-making

Beijing-based robotics firm seeks to capitalize on leading position in consumer robot direct-drive modules

Bomen Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. ("Bomen Technology") officially launched its Hong Kong IPO subscription process on September 21, planning to list on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on September 29 under the stock code "6731."

Company Overview

Bomen Technology positions itself as a robotics company centered on direct-drive technology. According to 2025 revenue data, it ranks first in China's consumer robot direct-drive power module industry with a 61.1% market share. The company's revenue grew from RMB 17.54 million in 2023 to RMB 282 million in 2025, achieving a three-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 300%. The company has also begun expanding into embodied intelligent joint modules.

From Full-Machine Validation to Module Volume Growth

Understanding Bomen Technology requires examining two key strategic choices regarding its technology pathway and commercialization pace.

Traditional robot reducers have long been dominated by overseas giants such as Japan's Harmonic Drive, with extremely low domestic substitution rates. Rather than improving reducer technology, Bomen Technology eliminated the transmission stage entirely, integrating brushless motors, encoders, and servo drives into a single unit that drives loads directly—structurally bypassing the wear, noise, and efficiency losses associated with gear meshing.

Equally noteworthy is the company's commercialization strategy. While most component companies develop products first and then seek applications, Bomen Technology—despite launching direct-drive modules early—achieved volume scaling only after its wheeled-foot robots completed complex operational validation.

According to the company, the core advantage of this approach is that wheeled-foot robots deployed in inspection, delivery, and other scenarios provide comprehensive validation of direct-drive technology's reliability, environmental adaptability, and motion control precision. This rapidly feeds back into module technology iteration and performance optimization while strengthening downstream customer trust. In other words, validation experience accumulated through full-machine operations in real-world scenarios provides technical credibility for modules entering the supply chains of leading consumer robot companies.

Business Breakdown and Growth

According to the prospectus, the company's primary business is robot power module sales, followed by robot sales covering consumer, industrial/commercial, and embodied intelligent applications. Revenue grew from RMB 17.54 million in 2023 to RMB 282 million in 2025, a three-year CAGR of 300.8%.

In robot full-machine sales, according to Frost & Sullivan data, the company ranked fourth in China's wheeled-foot robot industry by 2025 revenue (4.7% market share) and second in the dual wheeled-foot robot segment (18.6% market share). Both markets represent niche segments accounting for less than 1.0% of China's overall robotics industry.

In the first half of 2026, the company generated approximately RMB 200 million in revenue, up 39.74% year-on-year. Growth was primarily driven by increased shipments of consumer-grade direct-drive power modules to leading customers in household cleaning robots and other sectors. Bomen Technology disclosed that total power module shipments reached approximately 5.76 million units in H1 2026, with customer numbers rising from 90 to 123 year-on-year. The company has covered 4 of the world's top 10 consumer robot providers by 2025 revenue.

On the full-machine side, Bomen Technology launched the D1 robot in October 2025. According to Frost & Sullivan, this is the world's first commercially launched modular dual wheeled-foot robot, supporting free switching between dual wheeled-foot and quadrupedal configurations. In dual wheeled-foot mode, it offers over 5 hours of no-load battery life and a range exceeding 25 kilometers, covering applications including campus and office building inspection, tunnel safety inspection, and residential/commercial community delivery.

The company positions its full-machine business as serving dual roles: a "technology testing ground" and an "independent growth engine." On one hand, complex operational R&D and deployment of wheeled-foot robots provide real-world validation and technical iteration feedback for power modules and embodied joint modules. On the other hand, China's wheeled-foot robot market achieved a CAGR of 326.4% from 2022 to 2025, positioning the full-machine business as a potential independent revenue growth driver.

A notable metric is full-machine gross margin. In 2025, the company's full-machine gross margin reached 64.3%, significantly higher than the 20.0% gross margin for power module business during the same period. If full-machine revenue share increases gradually, the company's overall gross margin structure has room for optimization.

Profit Improvement and Structural Concerns

The prospectus reveals a clear "duality" in Bomen Technology's financial data. From 2023 to 2025, the company experienced rapid revenue expansion, while net losses were RMB 75.59 million, RMB 93.74 million, and RMB 881 million, respectively.

On the gross margin front, economies of scale are gradually emerging. The average selling price of core consumer-grade direct-drive power modules is only approximately RMB 29, representing a typical low-price, high-volume model.

However, as production volume expanded from 200,000 units in 2023 to approximately 8.5 million units in 2025, unit material costs continued to decline. Robot power module gross margin improved from 8.3% in 2023 to 20.0% in 2025, while overall gross margin rose from 13.5% to 21.5%, maintaining at 20.7% in H1 2026.

Bomen Technology explained that its long-term profitability model relies on two factors: penetrating higher-value-added scenarios such as industrial/commercial and embodied intelligent applications with direct-drive modules, and releasing profit elasticity through automated production line efficiency improvements and product structure upgrades.

On the profit side, the RMB 881 million net loss in 2025 appears substantial, but approximately RMB 770 million came from fair value changes in pre-IPO preferred share redemption liabilities, with another approximately RMB 58.76 million from share-based compensation.

Excluding these non-operating items, adjusted net loss narrowed from RMB 61.22 million in 2023 to RMB 43.25 million in 2025, further declining to RMB 27.5 million in H1 2026. The adjusted net loss rate also fell from 349.1% in 2023 to 15.4% in 2025, and 13.7% in H1 2026. This metric, which excludes accounting distortions from pre-IPO preferred share treatment, better reflects the company's cash consumption trend in daily operations. However, adjusted net losses remain in the tens of millions, and the company has not yet achieved operating profitability.

Customer Concentration Risk

An unavoidable issue is customer concentration. According to the prospectus, from 2023 to 2025, the top five customers' revenue share rose from 67.0% to 85.7%, with the single largest customer contributing 42.8% of revenue in 2025—a consumer robot provider headquartered in Suzhou. In H1 2026, the top five customer share remained at 81.3%, with the largest customer's share further increasing to 53.6%, indicating rising concentration.

This highly concentrated customer structure challenges the company's bargaining power in the supply chain. The company stated that in expanding industrial/commercial and embodied intelligent robot customers, its current customer pipeline and expansion strategy are progressing, and the trend of increasing customer numbers reflects active efforts to optimize the customer structure.

Redemption Liability

Another notable financial indicator is redemption liabilities. As of June 30, 2026, the company's share redemption liabilities reached RMB 1.739 billion, while cash and cash equivalents stood at only approximately RMB 293 million—the former nearly six times the latter. These liabilities, arising from redemption rights attached to investor financing rounds, are classified as current liabilities, resulting in net current liabilities of RMB 1.390 billion, approximately 2.3 times the company's total assets.

Upon listing, preferred shares will automatically convert to ordinary shares, and these redemption liabilities will be reclassified from liabilities to equity, turning the company's net assets from negative to positive. However, until then, the pressure of this liability structure on the company's liquidity cannot be ignored.

Can the Valuation Narrative Deliver?

Bomen Technology's IPO valuation narrative largely rests on an unfulfilled premise: expansion from consumer-grade modules to embodied intelligence.

On the technology migration front, the company stated that its direct-drive technology platform enables rapid adaptation and iteration for humanoid robot joint modules.

However, it must be acknowledged that embodied intelligence business has not yet generated significant revenue. In 2025, the company's embodied joint module revenue was RMB 6.798 million, and robot full-machine revenue was RMB 7.307 million, together accounting for less than 5% of total revenue. The company's current performance is overwhelmingly driven by consumer-grade direct-drive power modules, which generated approximately RMB 248 million in 2025, representing about 88% of total revenue.

In other words, Bomen Technology has completed commercial validation for consumer-grade direct-drive modules. The business achieving real volume growth is power modules for consumer robots such as vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers—not humanoid or wheeled-foot robots. Embodied intelligence provides valuation imagination, but with only 5% revenue contribution, this story requires time to materialize.

This raises fundamental questions about valuation合理性. The company's post-investment valuation in its latest financing round at end-2025 was approximately RMB 3.185 billion, compared to just RMB 770 million in March 2025—an increase of over 300% within one year. Based on the IPO price of HK$21.60, the listed market capitalization is approximately HK$7.983 billion, corresponding to a static price-to-sales ratio of approximately 24.5x based on 2025 full-year revenue, higher than the median of approximately 10.6x for comparable A/H-share robotics supply chain companies.

Shareholder Background

The company was founded by Zhang Di in 2020 at the XbotPark Robotics Incubation Base in Songshan Lake, Dongguan. Zhang Di graduated from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and studied under Professor Li Zexiang. The Songshan Lake Robotics Research Institute, controlled by Li Zexiang, participated in seed investment with RMB 300,000. State-owned capital, including Shunxi Fund, Beijing Advanced Manufacturing Industry Fund, and Jingguorui, collectively holds 21.06% equity, making them the second-largest shareholder group after founder Zhang Di (41.30% voting rights).

The company stated that state-owned shareholders participate in corporate governance through a combination of financial investment and strategic coordination, without interfering in daily operational decisions, while providing decision-making reference and resource coordination on strategic issues such as regional布局, industrial policy alignment, and major project implementation.

Use of Proceeds

Of the net proceeds from this offering, approximately 50% will be allocated to technology R&D—30% for optimizing direct-drive power module performance and 20% for improving robot and modular assembly technology. Approximately 20% will be used to deepen industry partnerships and expand sales networks. Approximately 20% will be used to improve production capacity and efficiency—15% for building highly automated flexible production lines and 5% for integrating industrial IoT systems.

Outlook

In the long term, whether Bomen Technology's direct-drive technology can accelerate penetration from consumer robots into industrial/commercial and embodied intelligent scenarios, and whether embodied joint modules can transition from small-batch delivery to volume production, will determine the company's value boundary.

Source: China Business Journal