Linkerbot cofounder Alex Zhou is racing to mass produce affordable, dexterous robotic hands that will be game changers for humanoids and industrial robots.

The lobby of Chinese robotics firm Linkerbot’s headquarters doubles as a waiting area and display room, with rows of robotic hands developed by the Beijing firm taking up half the space. Some are mounted on robotic arms to demonstrate their capabilities to visitors, like tightening a screw into a pre-drilled hole. A few are found on a quartet of full-sized humanoids dressed in traditional red Mamianqun skirts that can play pieces like Chinese composer Li Huanzhi’s “Spring Festival Overture” on the keyboard and drums.

Cofounded in 2023 by chairman and CEO Alex Zhou, Linkerbot debuted last year on Forbes Asia’s 100 to Watch list featuring Asia-Pacific’s small companies and startups on the rise. The five-fingered dexterous robotic hands the company makes are among the most crucial components in humanoids and industrial robots, enabling them to execute a range of tasks from mundane and repetitive to highly complex. They are already being used in factories across China to grasp objects and assemble parts, says Zhou, adding that one of his next goals is to make them adept at chores such as cooking and cleaning, which would transform humanoids into indispensable home helpers.

“The core of what we do is letting robotic hands have the skills of a top craftsman,” says the 40-year-old entrepreneur from his office crammed with robotic parts. “We aren’t just trying to make the hand perform a single task like cooking. We are bestowing upon it the entire skill set of a human hand.”

Reverse engineering the human hand, which is remarkably sophisticated with its capacity for fine motion control, adaptable grip and sensory feedback, is described by industry insiders as one of robotics’ greatest challenges. At the Los Angeles All-In Summit last September, billionaire Elon Musk said that while Tesla’s Optimus humanoid is good at walking, creating human-like hands, from the hardware that powers movement to software that controls action, has proved far more elusive.

Zhou acknowledges that a technology gap exists, but says his plan of combining AI with China’s manufacturing prowess will close it. The company, he discloses, is developing a database of skills to boost the hand’s versatility while it simultaneously expands production to drive down costs, giving Linkerbot a pricing edge in an already crowded field at home and overseas.

Wuhan-based brokerage TF Securities estimates there are over two dozen Chinese companies making robotic hands as of 2025. Meanwhile, the total shipment of hands in China is likely to touch 70,000 units by year-end, a nearly 300% rise from 2025, and expand more than sixfold to 430,000 units annually by 2030, according to a report by Shenzhen-based research firm Gaogong Industry Research Institute.

Investors are piling in. Backed by fintech giant Ant Group, HSG and CICC Capital, Linkerbot closed a series B round in April, which it said valued the startup at $3 billion. Zhou, whose 31% stake gives him an estimated net worth of $920 million, has already kicked off another financing round targeting a valuation of $6 billion, which would make him a billionaire. While media reports indicate that Linkerbot has plans to list in Hong Kong in 2027, a company representative says there is no clear timeline for an IPO.

So far, Linkerbot’s portfolio includes six models priced between 6,666 yuan and 99,999 yuan ($980 and $14,700). The 06, Linkerbot’s cheapest model, is capable of bending its........

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