JAKA Robotics
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Last reviewed
May 9, 2026
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JAKA Robotics (Chinese: 节卡机器人), formally Shanghai JAKA Robotics Ltd., is a Chinese robotics company founded in 2014 and headquartered in Shanghai, China. The company specializes in the development and manufacturing of collaborative robots (cobots), and has more recently expanded into embodied intelligence and humanoid robots. JAKA produces a broad range of six-axis collaborative robot arms used in manufacturing, electronics assembly, automotive production, and service applications, and is widely regarded as one of the leading domestic competitors to Universal Robots in the Chinese market.[1][2]
The company name 节卡 (Jié Kǎ) is derived from the Chinese expressions 节节胜利 (sequential victories) and 上下求索 (relentless exploration), while the English acronym JAKA stands for "Just Always Keep Amazing."[3] By 2024, JAKA Robotics held approximately 21.9% of China's domestic collaborative robot market by units shipped, and its products were deployed in nearly 100 countries.[2][4]
JAKA Robotics was founded in 2014 by Li Mingyang (李明洋), who serves as the company's chief executive officer. Prior to founding JAKA, Li had spent more than a decade in the industrial automation sector, holding technical and management positions at multinational companies including Tetra Pak.[5] At founding, the company established a research and development center in Shanghai's Minhang District and a production base in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province.[3]
From inception, JAKA focused on the collaborative robotics segment rather than traditional caged industrial robots. The collaborative segment was at the time dominated globally by Denmark's Universal Robots and was emerging in China as a higher-margin niche. By 2015, the company had begun commercial deployments of its earliest cobot designs, and in 2017 it launched what it described as the industry's first wireless-controlled collaborative robot, allowing operators to teach and reprogram the arm using a tablet rather than a tethered teach pendant.[3]
The years between 2018 and 2022 saw rapid expansion of JAKA's product catalog and its international footprint. The Zu series, the company's flagship six-axis cobot family, expanded from a small initial set of models to a full payload range from 3 kilograms to 18 kilograms, and JAKA opened sales and technology offices in Japan, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, and the United States.[3][5]
In 2020, JAKA was designated a "Little Giant" enterprise (专精特新小巨人) by the Shanghai Municipal Government, a recognition that Beijing has used to identify small and medium specialized firms in strategically important industries.[3] In 2021, the company received national-level "specialized and sophisticated" enterprise recognition.[3]
On 9 May 2023, JAKA Robotics filed an application to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Science and Technology Innovation Board, commonly known as the STAR Market. The filing sought to raise approximately 750 million yuan (around 108 million United States dollars at then-current exchange rates), with Guotai Junan Securities acting as the sponsor of the offering. According to the prospectus, the company was valued at approximately 3.5 billion yuan in its most recent pre-IPO funding round.[6][7]
The planned use of proceeds, as disclosed in the filing, was as follows:
| Use of proceeds | Amount (CNY) |
|---|---|
| Production capacity for 50,000 intelligent robots per year | 420 million |
| Research and development center construction | 306 million |
| Working capital | 24 million |
The company reported revenue of 281 million yuan for fiscal year 2022 in its prospectus, and according to industry coverage of the filing, JAKA shipped 2,267 collaborative robot units in 2021, representing about 6 percent of the global cobot market that year by units.[7]
On 7 August 2025, the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Listing Committee canceled JAKA's scheduled IPO review meeting, citing matters that required further verification. The cancellation made JAKA the first listing review of its kind to be canceled on the STAR Market in 2025.[8] As of the cancellation, the company had reported revenue of approximately 400 million yuan for 2024, up about 14 percent year over year, while net profit narrowly exceeded 6 million yuan, reflecting intense price competition in the Chinese cobot market.[8]
At the 2024 China International Industry Fair (CIIF) in Shanghai, JAKA Robotics debuted the JAKA K1, the company's first humanoid robot. JAKA showcased a non-functional prototype at the event, signaling its expansion from collaborative robot arms into full humanoid platforms.[9]
The K1 represented JAKA's strategic pivot into the fast-growing humanoid robotics segment, joining dozens of Chinese companies that entered the market amid strong central-government support for humanoid robot development. Beijing's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had set targets for mass-producing humanoid robots by 2025 and achieving market leadership by 2027, and JAKA's established cobot manufacturing capabilities gave the company an industrial base that many pure-play humanoid startups lacked.[9]
JAKA Robotics was founded by Li Mingyang, who continues to serve as chief executive officer. The company's chief technology officer is Xu Xiong (许雄), a graduate of the Robotics Research Institute at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.[5] The company has historically described its technical foundation as drawing on Chinese robotics research lineages dating back to the late 1970s, although JAKA itself was not formed until 2014.[10]
JAKA Robotics has raised more than 220 million United States dollars across multiple financing rounds since its founding. The company's funding history reflects a transition from early Chinese venture capital backing to a later mix of strategic, sovereign, and Middle Eastern investors.
| Round | Date | Amount | Lead investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series C | January 2021 | RMB 300 million (approx. USD 46 million) | CPE Capital, State Development and Investment Corporation (SDIC) |
| Series C+ | 2021 | combined Series C and C+ at approx. USD 50 million | undisclosed |
| Series D | July 2022 | USD 150 million | Temasek, TrueLight Capital, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Prosperity7 Ventures |
The Series D round in July 2022 was particularly notable for its inclusion of SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Prosperity7 Ventures, the diversified growth fund of Saudi Arabia's Aramco. This made JAKA one of the relatively small number of Chinese robotics companies to attract significant Middle Eastern sovereign capital, and the round signaled increased international interest in the Chinese cobot sector despite a generally cooling environment for venture funding in China that year.[10][11]
Proceeds from the Series D were earmarked for global expansion, including the buildout of overseas technology centers, and for further investment in core robotics research areas including motion control, force sensing, and computer vision.[10]
JAKA's product portfolio is organized around several distinct cobot families that share a common control architecture but differ in payload, environmental rating, and target application. The company also produces an embodied intelligence and humanoid platform line, control and vision components, and force-control accessories.[12]
The Zu series is JAKA's flagship and most widely deployed cobot family. It consists of six-axis arms available in payload ratings from 3 kilograms to 30 kilograms.[12][13] The Zu line is used for general-purpose factory automation tasks including pick and place, machine tending, packaging, screwdriving, dispensing, palletizing, and polishing.
| Model | Payload | Reach | Repeatability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zu 3 | 3 kg | 626 mm | ±0.02 mm | Compact entry model |
| Zu 5 | 5 kg | 954 mm | ±0.02 mm | General assembly |
| Zu 7 | 7 kg | 819 mm | ±0.02 mm | Light material handling |
| Zu 12 | 12 kg | 1,327 mm | ±0.03 mm | Mid-payload |
| Zu 18 | 18 kg | 1,073 mm | ±0.03 mm | Heavier handling |
| Zu 30 | 30 kg | 1,350 mm | ±0.05 mm | Heavy-duty, IP65 |
Force-controlled variants of several models, designated with the suffix S (for example Zu 5s and Zu 12s), include integrated six-axis force-torque sensors at the wrist, allowing for constant-force control, normal-tracking, and speed-mode contact strategies that the standard models cannot perform.[13]
The Pro series is positioned for harsher industrial environments and carries an IP68 ingress protection rating, meaning the arm is dust-tight and protected against continuous immersion in water. The series targets foundries, food and beverage facilities, and outdoor or wash-down applications. Models include the Pro 5 (5 kg payload, 954 mm reach), the Pro 12 (12 kg payload, 1,327 mm reach), and the Pro 16 (16 kg payload, 1,713 mm reach).[14][12]
The MiniCobo is JAKA's smallest cobot, intended for desktop, laboratory, and lightweight assembly applications. It carries a 1 kilogram payload, has a reach of 580 millimeters, and weighs only 9.4 kilograms, allowing it to be relocated by a single operator without lifting equipment. Typical applications include assembly, deburring, machine tending, pick and place, and polishing in space-constrained environments.[15]
JAKA also produces the All-in-One series, which integrates the cobot's controller into the base of the arm to reduce footprint, and the AL, A, and S families, which target specific verticals such as 3C electronics manufacturing and new-energy battery production.[12]
The JAKA K1 is JAKA's first humanoid robot, debuted as a non-functional prototype at the 2024 China International Industry Fair. As shown at CIIF 2024, the K1 features 29 movable joints with 14 degrees of freedom in each arm, an arm dexterity figure that exceeds most contemporaneous humanoid designs and that JAKA presented as enabling delicate, precision tasks such as electronics assembly and surgical assistance.[9]
The K1 incorporates a six-dimensional force control system, allowing the robot to sense pressure from forward, upward, downward, and rotational directions, and to react in real time so as to avoid applying excessive force during contact tasks. The sensor suite includes depth cameras for three-dimensional environment perception and touch sensors distributed across the hands and arms for tactile feedback.[16]
In addition to the K1, JAKA's website lists several other embodied intelligence platforms, including Kargo (a logistics-oriented platform), Lumi, S³, and the EVO development platform. As of 2025, most of these platforms are described as research or commercial pilot stage products rather than mass-produced units.[12]
JAKA's robots are programmed through the JAKA App, a graphical drag-and-drop programming environment that runs on standard Android tablets and does not require traditional robotics programming knowledge. The application supports wireless connection to the cobot's controller, real-time monitoring, and a library of pre-built skill blocks for common tasks. The control system is built around an open architecture that allows third-party integration of vision systems, grippers, and force-torque sensors.[1][13]
JAKA Robotics describes its technology stack as resting on what the company calls nine core technologies and six core algorithms, although the company has not publicly enumerated all of them in detail. The publicly described elements include the following:[10]
JAKA's primary manufacturing facility is the Changzhou Wujin Production Base in Jiangsu Province, with the company's research and development center based in Shanghai's Minhang District at 18 Nangu Road.[3] The company has also reported plans to construct additional manufacturing capacity targeting an annual production of 50,000 intelligent robots per year, with funding allocated for the project as part of its proposed STAR Market IPO.[6]
In addition to its mainland China facilities, JAKA has reported branch offices in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, and the United States, supporting sales, integration, and technical support in those markets.[3] By 2024, JAKA reported that more than 10,000 of its cobots had been deployed worldwide across nearly 100 countries.[2][10]
Major reported customers include Toyota Motor Corporation, Schneider Electric, CRRC (China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation), Luxshare Precision (a major Apple supplier), Xingyu Automotive Lighting, Dongshan Precision, and SAIC Motor.[3][2]
According to third-party industry data cited by JAKA, the company captured approximately 21.9 percent of the Chinese collaborative robot market by units shipped in 2024.[2] Chinese domestic suppliers in aggregate accounted for over 92 percent of the country's cobot market by 2024, displacing the early dominance of Universal Robots and other foreign suppliers, and JAKA was consistently identified as one of the top two or three Chinese cobot vendors alongside AUBO Robotics and Dobot.[4]
Independent industry coverage of the Chinese cobot sector has emphasized that the market is characterized by intense price competition. While JAKA's revenue grew approximately 14 percent year over year to nearly 400 million yuan in 2024, the company's net profit margin was thin, with reported net income of about 6 million yuan that year. Analysts have argued that the next phase of competition in the segment will be defined by the ability of leading Chinese cobot vendors to translate volume growth into sustainable profitability rather than continuing to compete primarily on price.[8]
In the Chinese cobot market, JAKA's principal domestic competitors are AUBO Robotics, Dobot, Rokae, Elite Robotics, and Flexiv. Internationally, JAKA competes with Universal Robots, Techman Robot of Taiwan, Doosan Robotics of South Korea, Fanuc, ABB, KUKA, and Yaskawa.[17]
Observers of the segment have noted that JAKA's payload range from 1 kilogram (the MiniCobo) to 30 kilograms (the Zu 30) is broader than that of most pure-play cobot competitors, and that the company's emphasis on a wireless tablet-based programming workflow distinguishes its user experience from that of more traditional teach-pendant cobots.[17]