# Kuwa Technology (酷哇科技有限公司) (酷哇科技)
Kuwa Technology (酷哇科技, also rendered Coowa Technology; legal entity 酷哇科技有限公司) is a Shanghai-based Chinese robotics company founded in 2015 that builds autonomous sanitation and urban-service robots and sells unmanned sanitation as a service. As of mid-2026 it is active and preparing a Hong Kong initial public offering after a reported pre-IPO funding round of more than US$600 million.[1](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/) • [3](https://www.guancha.cn/economy/2026_06_22_821256.shtml?s=zwyxgtjbt)
| Fact | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Founded | 20 August 2015 (registered entity); founded by He Tao[2](https://www.36kr.com/p/3864299726181640) • [10](https://m.qcc.com/firm/9a9780ca53a8d156b81ca757076b58ce.html) |
| Headquarters | Shanghai[4](https://invezz.com/sg/news/2026/06/22/softbank-backed-coowa-files-for-hong-kong-ipo-after-dollar600m-round/) |
| Key people | He Tao (founder, director); Liao Wenlong (legal representative, manager)[10](https://m.qcc.com/firm/9a9780ca53a8d156b81ca757076b58ce.html) |
| Sector | Autonomous sanitation and urban-service robots[1](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/) |
| Fleet and coverage | Over 10,000 units in more than 50 cities, over 45 million km of operating data[1](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/) |
| Financials | 2025 revenue above RMB 1 billion; positive annual EBITDA; over RMB 5 billion in contracts in hand[1](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/) • [3](https://www.guancha.cn/economy/2026_06_22_821256.shtml?s=zwyxgtjbt) |
| Latest funding | Pre-IPO round of over US$600 million (2026); post-money valuation above US$3 billion[1](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/) |
| Status | Active; Hong Kong IPO in preparation, joint sponsors Huatai Securities and Deutsche Bank[3](https://www.guancha.cn/economy/2026_06_22_821256.shtml?s=zwyxgtjbt) • [6](https://www.tech-plus.com.cn/news/907.html) |
## Founding and background
Founder He Tao was born in the 1980s in Yiwu, Zhejiang, and graduated from [Shanghai Jiao Tong University](https://www.edgepedia.org/shanghai-jiao-tong-university) in electronic information in 2008. He then carried out autonomous-driving research at the Tokyo Institute of Technology under the robotist Shigeo Hirose, returned to teach at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in late 2012, and founded Coowa in 2015.[2](https://www.36kr.com/p/3864299726181640) The registered entity, 酷哇科技有限公司, was incorporated on 20 August 2015 with Liao Wenlong as legal representative and He Tao as a registered director; it is wholly owned by C Cowarobot Investment Holding Limited and is recorded as active.[10](https://m.qcc.com/firm/9a9780ca53a8d156b81ca757076b58ce.html)
In 2017 and 2018 the company systematically evaluated four application scenarios: indoor spaces, closed and semi-closed roads, highways, and urban open roads. It chose municipal sanitation, urban distribution logistics, and urban mobility, reasoning that sanitation offers fixed work areas, speeds generally below 30 km/h, low regulatory risk, and paying customers in government sanitation departments and property companies.[2](https://www.36kr.com/p/3864299726181640) In 2019 it made a further strategic shift from selling technology to selling services under a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) model, which lengthened its technology stack and raised R&D spending but secured a stable base of long-term orders.[3](https://www.guancha.cn/economy/2026_06_22_821256.shtml?s=zwyxgtjbt)
## Products and technology
Coowa's core products are autonomous street-sweeping vehicles: a one-ton Unicorn series and a three-ton Kylin series.[1](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/) Its licensed business scope covers road motor vehicle production, urban household waste services, and service-consumer robot manufacturing.[10](https://m.qcc.com/firm/9a9780ca53a8d156b81ca757076b58ce.html) The company's own site also lists a C0 community delivery robot dog and an X0 city operations robot, both fitted with its self-developed robotic arm for autonomous delivery and fine maintenance work.[9](https://www.cowarobot.com/home)
On the technology side, 36Kr describes the company's position as resting on full-stack in-house development of the chassis, domain controller, models, operating systems, and some core components.[2](https://www.36kr.com/p/3864299726181640) In February 2026 Coowa released CooWAM 2.0 (World-Action Model), a general world-model base it positions as the foundation of its "autonomous driving plus robots" strategy, and at the same time disclosed that it had reached positive annual EBITDA.[8](https://news.iresearch.cn/yx/2026/02/546911.shtml) The company presents itself as a world-model-driven urban embodied-intelligence full-stack company.[9](https://www.cowarobot.com/home)
## Funding and investors
Public information on Coowa's funding stopped at its 2022 round; in June 2026 Guancha reported that the company had "stealthily" completed a new round of over US$600 million at a post-money valuation above US$3 billion.[3](https://www.guancha.cn/economy/2026_06_22_821256.shtml?s=zwyxgtjbt) The Yangtzeer and tech-plus reported the same round size and valuation.[1](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/) • [6](https://www.tech-plus.com.cn/news/907.html)
**Investor accounts conflict.** The Yangtzeer names Infinity Capital and SoftBank China Capital as backers;[1](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/) Guancha names Asia Investment Capital and [SoftBank China Venture Capital](https://www.edgepedia.org/sbcvc);[3](https://www.guancha.cn/economy/2026_06_22_821256.shtml?s=zwyxgtjbt) and Mugglehead reports that significant investors included the [Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank](https://www.edgepedia.org/asian-infrastructure-investment-bank) and [SoftBank Group](https://www.edgepedia.org/softbank-group).[5](https://mugglehead.com/coowa-a-cleaning-robotics-firm-worth-us3b-prepares-for-hong-kong-ipo/) These accounts have not been reconciled, so the identity of the round's lead investors remains unconfirmed. On valuation, Invezz gives "more than US$3 billion (approx. US$3.9 billion)";[4](https://invezz.com/sg/news/2026/06/22/softbank-backed-coowa-files-for-hong-kong-ipo-after-dollar600m-round/) the more conservative "above US$3 billion" is used here.
On the IPO itself, Guancha, The Yangtzeer, and tech-plus all reported that Coowa was preparing to file its Hong Kong listing application within two to three months of late June 2026, with [Huatai Securities](https://www.edgepedia.org/huatai-securities) and [Deutsche Bank](https://www.edgepedia.org/deutsche-bank) as joint sponsors.[3](https://www.guancha.cn/economy/2026_06_22_821256.shtml?s=zwyxgtjbt) • [6](https://www.tech-plus.com.cn/news/907.html) Invezz's headline stated the company had already filed;[4](https://invezz.com/sg/news/2026/06/22/softbank-backed-coowa-files-for-hong-kong-ipo-after-dollar600m-round/) the multiple Chinese-language reports of a filing planned in two to three months are treated as the more precise account, and whether the prospectus has actually been lodged remains unconfirmed in the available record.
## Business model and traction
Coowa sells unmanned sanitation primarily as a service rather than as equipment. A RMB 90 million unmanned sanitation leasing project in [Zhangzhou](https://www.edgepedia.org/zhangzhou), Fujian, illustrates the model: local state-owned enterprises pay monthly fees instead of buying machines outright.[1](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/) Under MaaS, the company converts one-time equipment sales into recurring service revenue, which requires it to take responsibility for uptime, task completion, route planning, fault handling, and contract renewals.[2](https://www.36kr.com/p/3864299726181640)
Reported traction as of mid-2026:[1](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/)
- A fleet exceeding 10,000 autonomous units operating in more than 50 cities globally, mostly in China.
- Over 45 million kilometers of accumulated driving and operating data.
- Total contracts in hand surpassing RMB 5 billion (about US$738 million).
- 2025 revenue above RMB 1 billion and positive EBITDA; more than 90% of contracts are domestic, so overseas profitability is untested.[3](https://www.guancha.cn/economy/2026_06_22_821256.shtml?s=zwyxgtjbt)
- Its on-site urban services share in the first-tier cities Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen grew from under 2% in 2022 to 25% in 2025. The trade outlet Taibo describes Coowa as the only robot enterprise running normalized urban services in all four of these cities simultaneously, a claim from trade press rather than independent verification.[7](https://en.taibo.cn/p/26111310)
- In large-scale deployments of more than 10 robots per contract, industry data cited by The Yangtzeer puts Coowa's share at around 80%.[1](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/)
Nearly half of its clients are enterprise and municipal customers, including Beijing Enterprises Group, Infore Environment, and Yuhetian Group.[1](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/) 36Kr notes the company's sales team has stayed at roughly 20 people while operating scale grew 17-fold in five years.[2](https://www.36kr.com/p/3864299726181640) Its 2025 average customer order value rose 106% versus 2022.[3](https://www.guancha.cn/economy/2026_06_22_821256.shtml?s=zwyxgtjbt) For market context, Taibo cites projections that smart-sanitation demand would exceed RMB 7.4 billion per year by 2025, about four times the 2023 level.[7](https://en.taibo.cn/p/26111310)
Coowa's approach of shipping high volumes of wheeled municipal machines contrasts with several Chinese robotics peers that concentrate on advanced humanoid prototypes; it also makes wheeled, wheel-legged, and humanoid-like urban robots.[5](https://mugglehead.com/coowa-a-cleaning-robotics-firm-worth-us3b-prepares-for-hong-kong-ipo/)
## Legal disputes
Registry court records show two disputes: a sales contract dispute (case (2025)皖1602民初25241号, hearing on 6 March 2026) and a labor-service tort liability dispute (case (2025)皖0202民初14591号, hearing on 24 December 2025).[10](https://m.qcc.com/firm/9a9780ca53a8d156b81ca757076b58ce.html)
## References
1. [Autonomous sweeper maker Coowa gears up for IPO after $600M funding — The Yangtzeer](https://yangtzeer.com/news/deals/autonomous-sweeper-coowa-hk-ipo/)
2. [年入10亿，5年暴增1700%，浙江80后做扫大街机器人，要IPO了 — 36氪](https://www.36kr.com/p/3864299726181640)
3. [软银加持，成色几何？这家无人环卫车公司拟赴港IPO — 观察者网](https://www.guancha.cn/economy/2026_06_22_821256.shtml?s=zwyxgtjbt)
4. [SoftBank-backed Coowa files for Hong Kong IPO after $600M round — Invezz](https://invezz.com/sg/news/2026/06/22/softbank-backed-coowa-files-for-hong-kong-ipo-after-dollar600m-round/)
5. [Coowa, a cleaning robotics firm worth US$3B, prepares for Hong Kong IPO — Mugglehead](https://mugglehead.com/coowa-a-cleaning-robotics-firm-worth-us3b-prepares-for-hong-kong-ipo/)
6. [5年营收翻17倍！酷哇科技冲刺港股 — tech-plus](https://www.tech-plus.com.cn/news/907.html)
7. [Kuwa Technology takes the lead in achieving operational profitability — Taibo](https://en.taibo.cn/p/26111310)
8. [酷哇发布 WAM 2.0 世界模型 — 艾瑞网](https://news.iresearch.cn/yx/2026/02/546911.shtml)
9. [酷哇科技（COOWA）官网](https://www.cowarobot.com/home)
10. [酷哇科技有限公司 — 企查查](https://m.qcc.com/firm/9a9780ca53a8d156b81ca757076b58ce.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Business and work › Business and work overview › Companies and corporations › Venture-backed startups and growth companies › Deep-tech, hardware, industrial, climate, and mobility startups › Robotics and embodied AI › Service and consumer robotics*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 11, 2026 · Last review: Sep 19, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license