Calling the 2026 financing activity in the motor sector an "explosion" isn't quite accurate. The real explosion was back in 2021, when a wave of funding hit the new energy vehicle (NEV) drive motor space, valuations were bid up to the sky, and then what happened? Overcapacity. Price wars that squeezed margins until even the processing fees were barely covered.

This year's wave is different. The money isn't being scattered like pepper dust — it's being funneled into a handful of very narrow channels. How narrow? I tallied the financing events so far this year: more than 15 deals, but the big money has gone to essentially just three directions: robot joint modules, aviation electric propulsion, and precision motion control.

The rest — traditional industrial motors, NEV drive motors — have seen little financing news. Average single-deal funding in the special-purpose motor sector has fallen to RMB 20 million this year, an all-time low. As for NEV motors and controllers, by late January there had been only two investment events, totaling RMB 130 million.

The contrast is brutal. But that's the primary market's honest attitude: it's not that motors are done for — it's that certain kinds of motors are done for.

Robot Joint Modules: The Money is Crowding in

Let's start with the hottest area.

On September 14, Nanjing Inkesi (音克斯) completed a Series B of over RMB 300 million. More than a dozen institutions came in together: Jinyuan Investment, Nice Group (纳爱斯), Suzhou Venture Capital, Shenzhen Capital Group (深创投), Fosun Capital, and Huakong Fund, among others. That same day, Zero-Error Cloud Control (零差云控) closed a Series C+++ led by Xichen Capital — whose parent is the tens-of-billions market-cap Deye (德业股份).

Looking further back: Maotuorui (茂拓锐) raised tens of millions in a Pre-A round, working on steer-by-wire chassis motors and joint modules; Leen Automation (乐恩自动化) attracted simultaneous investment from provincial, municipal, and district state-owned venture funds; ZhiJian ZhiQing (指尖智擎) completed a tens-of-millions Pre-A in June led by Shenzhen Capital Group, making miniature axial-flux joint modules.

I count at least seven or eight financing deals in the robot joint module direction alone this year.

Why so crowded? Do the math and it becomes clear. Joint modules account for 30% to 60% of a humanoid robot's bill of materials, and Huatai Securities estimates the global humanoid robot motor market will reach RMB 91.76 billion by 2030. With a number like that on the table, who wouldn't want a seat?

But to be honest, the joint module track right now has a bit of a "nothing has been validated, yet valuations have already run ahead" flavor.

One case is worth considering. After closing its Series C, Benmo Power (本末动力) had a post-money valuation of RMB 3.185 billion, corresponding to a P/S ratio of roughly 11.3x on 2025 revenue. Consumer electronics parts companies typically trade at just 5 to 10x. The extra premium is entirely priced on expectations of humanoid robot mass production.

Will those expectations pay off? I don't know. But what I do know is that the technical roadmap for joint modules hasn't converged. Frameless torque motors, direct-drive joints, quasi-direct-drive joints — each of the three routes has its merits and its shortcomings. Companies betting on a single route today are taking a real gamble on where the industry lands.

Someone at Shenzhen Capital Group told me something that stuck with me: they picked ZhiJian ZhiQing not based on how many units it can sell today, but on whether it can fill the domestic gap in miniature motors.

I buy that logic. But between "filling the gap" and "making money" lies a river called mass production and delivery.

Aviation Electric Propulsion: A Real Window, but Don't Underestimate the Certification Trap

Aviation electric propulsion has also been busy raising money this year.

In July, Kaipu Kinetic (开普动能) closed consecutive seed and angel rounds totaling tens of millions of RMB, led by ZeroYi Capital (零以资本) with New Peak Capital (新鼎资本) participating. The founding team comes from Siemens and Rolls-Royce's electric aviation divisions, having worked on more than 20 electric flight platforms, with the team logging a cumulative 1,500+ test flights. That background is genuinely scarce in China.

That same month, Ji Qing Power (极擎动力) raised an angel round exclusively from Yushi Space (宇石空间), working on eVTOL electric propulsion and electric servos for commercial aerospace.

The bar for aviation electric propulsion is on a completely different level from ground motors. Certification standards like DO-178C and DO-254 — just the certification cycle alone is enough to give you headaches. Electric propulsion systems account for 30% to 40% aircraft cost, mid-to-high-end products have very low domestic localization rates, and the market landscape is unsettled — that does make this a genuine early-entry window.

But a window period is not a safety period.

A friend of mine working on eVTOLs told me his biggest headache right now isn't the technical solution — it's that the pace of airworthiness certification is completely uncontrollable. CAAC's certification standards for electric aircraft are still being refined. Companies have submitted applications, but no one can give a firm timeline for when the certificate will arrive. Capital can wait two years; product iteration cannot.

So for the aviation propulsion track, the bet is whether a team can get its technical solution and supply chain working before the airworthiness standards fully land. If you make it, the moment the standards come out becomes a first-mover advantage. If you don't, the money burns out before the certificate materializes.

Precision Motion Control and Miniature Motors: "Domestic Substitution" Has Been the Slogan for Years — So Where's the Difficulty?

The third direction: precision motion control and miniature motors.

On September 9, Zongwei Technology (纵苇科技) completed a RMB 200 million Pre-C++ round led by Matrix Partners China (经纬创投), with Shunwei, BlueRun, and Shengbao participating, while simultaneously kicking off its Series C round. The company works on intelligent magnetic-drive motion control platforms, planar maglev systems, and special-purpose motors.

In August, Guoao Technology (国奥科技) closed a nearly RMB 100 million Series A+ round, with Shenzhen Capital Group doubling down, alongside Yueke Financial and Cadenza Capital. The company's multi-degree-of-freedom precision motors are already in volume production supply for Bosch production lines, achieving ±2 μm positioning accuracy and ±0.05 N force control.

The founder of Guoao, Li Siyang, said something I think hits the nail on the head: "To get customers to switch to domestic motors, you can't rely on being cheap or optimizing a few parameters — you have to deliver a step-change, exponential performance improvement."

Translated, that means the logic of domestic substitution has changed. It used to be: "I'm cheaper, give me a try." Now it's: "I'm better than you, you have no choice but to use me." A customer like Bosch won't switch suppliers over a few yuan in savings, but if you can achieve the precision its existing solutions can't, there's a conversation to be had.

In the miniature motor direction, XiaoXiang Electric (小象电动) completed a Pre-A of over RMB 100 million led by Hengxu Capital, planning to build what it says will be the world's first automated axial-flux motor production line with annual capacity above 150,000 units. ZhiJian ZhiQing's factory in Suzhou is already operational, with 100,000 units of flexible annual capacity.

One detail here deserves attention: capital now looks not just at technology, but also at production lines. A few years ago, investing in motors required only a validated technology; this year, that's not enough — you have to prove you can manufacture at scale and actually deliver. XiaoXiang Electric explicitly said the funding is for building a production line; ZhiJian ZhiQing's factory is already running. Capital is willing to make heavy bets at the "0-to-1" stage — provided it can see a path from "1 to 100."

Who's in, Who's out?

Looking at the investor structure, one shift is quite noticeable: state capital is taking the lead, and industrial capital is seeping in.

Shenzhen Capital Group has made at least three moves in the motor space this year — leading ZhiJian ZhiQing, doubling down on Guoao Technology, and participating in Inkesi's Series B. Local state-owned platforms like Suzhou Venture Capital, Yueke Financial, Chengdu Science & Technology Innovation Investment, and Nanjing Jiaokong are entering in dense waves. Leen Automation landed simultaneous investment from provincial, municipal, and district state-owned VC funds.

State capital's logic differs from that of financial investors. Financial investors look at payback periods; state capital looks at supply chain security. Motors are the core actuation components of high-end equipment — humanoid robots, eVTOLs, semiconductor equipment: which of these can do without them? When local state capital invests in motors, it is essentially betting on whether its region can grow the next Inovance (汇川), the next Leader Harmonious Drive (绿的谐波).

Industrial capital is coming in too. Ji Qing Power's angel round was invested solely by Yushi Space; Nice Group joined Inkesi's Series B; Deye invested in Zero-Error Cloud Control through Xichen Capital. The entry of industrial capital signals the motor sector's shift from "financial investment-driven" to "industrial synergy-driven." That's a good thing — it means orders and capacity are tied to more tangible anchors.

But the flip side: financing for traditional motor companies is contracting. The average single-deal size for special-purpose motors is RMB 20 million, a historic low. And in NEV drive motors, there have been almost no noteworthy financing events this year. The reason is simple: these tracks have passed the "storytelling" stage and entered the stage of fighting on cost and scale. The primary market's attitude toward such companies is: either you've already gone public, or don't bother raising — roll with your own cash.

The Valuation Divergence Deserves More Attention Than the Funding Divergence

Listed robot motor companies command P/E ratios in the hundreds, while unlisted motor companies are valued at 16–20x P/E, or roughly RMB 400–500 million. Both make motors, but the valuation logic is completely different.

Companies tied to robotics, the low-altitude economy, and precision motion control have seen their valuation logic switch from manufacturing P/E to tech-sector P/S. Those still making traditional industrial motors and NEV drive motors face a valuation ceiling pinned firmly in place.

Is this divergence justified? Partly.

Traditional motors are indeed heavily homogenized, processing fees under sustained pressure, and a swing in raw material prices wipes out the profit. That kind of business can't command a high valuation. But for robot joint modules and aviation propulsion, how much of today's lofty valuation is backed by real performance, and how much is borrowed from the future — that may only become clear in a couple of years.

My judgment: of this 2026 wave of motor financing, no more than one-third will truly break out. Most companies will get stuck at the "sample to mass production" hurdle. Mass-production consistency for joint modules, airworthiness certification for aviation propulsion, customer validation cycles for precision motion control — each one is a hard barrier. Capital is willing to wait now because the track is hot enough. But capital's patience has always been finite.

Back to the Title Question: What Is the Primary Market Betting On?

On the surface, it's betting on humanoid robot mass production, eVTOL commercialization, and the domestic substitution of semiconductor equipment. But look deeper, and the bet is whether Chinese manufacturing can move from "able to make" to "able to make well, and deliver reliably" at the critical execution-unit level.

The motor industry is neither new nor old. It doesn't face the kind of visible chokehold that chips do, but the gap in precision, reliability, and lifespan versus top foreign players is real and substantial. Guoao Technology achieves ±2 μm, and that's why Bosch is willing to use it. Without that precision, being cheaper is useless.

The biggest change this financing wave brings to the motor industry isn't the money itself — it's that the evaluation criteria have changed. The old metrics were revenue, scale, cost control. The new metrics are technical barriers, scenario positioning, and mass production capability.

This change is good news for companies seriously investing in technology. For companies still competing on low-price order-grabbing, it may be considerably less friendly.

As for whether capital's bet will pay off? I don't make predictions. But one thing is certain: the competitive dimensions of the motor industry have already changed.

Source: Today's Motor (今日电机)

The 25th Shenzhen (China) International Small Motor, Electric Machinery, Magnetic Materials & Coil Winding Exhibition

2027 Shenzhen Embodied Robot & Robotics Technology Expo

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