BotShare Debuts as China's Robot Rental Market Eyes 10b Yuan Milestone

BotShare, a robot rental platform backed by Shanghai-based AgiBot, China's highest-valued embodied intelligence startup, was officially launched on Monday.

The debut comes as industry leaders project a commercial shift in the market, forecasting that China's robot rental sector will grow tenfold to reach 10 billion yuan (US$1.41 billion) by 2026.

While high acquisition costs remain a primary barrier for the widespread adoption of humanoid robots, demand is surging for affordable, short-term rentals across the conference, wedding and education sectors.

BotShare has already established a network covering 50 core cities across China, supported by over 600 localized service providers. With a current fleet of more than 1,000 devices, the platform aims to expand its reach to 200-plus cities by the end of 2026.

At the launch event held in Zhangjiang, Shanghai's Pudong New Area, on Monday, the platform showcased a diverse lineup of hardware, including AgiBot humanoid robots and robotic dogs, AheadForm bionic robots and ULS Robotics exoskeletons.

Demonstrations featured robots delivering rings at weddings, performing group dances for corporate annual galas and hyper-realistic "female" robots acting as event hosts.

"In the future, the threshold for renting a robot will drop significantly – much like hailing a ride on your phone or renting a power bank," said Jiang Qingsong, a partner at AgiBot and chairman of BotShare.

Jiang unveiled plans of serving a projected 400,000 rental customers by 2026, expecting the whole robot rental market to hit 10 billion yuan. For unexpected risks and accidents, BotShare offers insurance services and trained operators if necessary.

While official standardized pricing was not released, onsite inquiries revealed a broad range from 200 yuan to over 10,000 yuan per day in BotShare, depending on the complexity of the task.

Robot rental prices have been dropping fast recently, from 10,000 yuan a day to about 2,000 yuan a day for a humanoid robot. Entry-level robotic dogs are even more accessible, with rates starting as low as 200 to 500 yuan per day. This price correction is attributed to increased supply, heightened competition, and a shift toward more diverse commercial applications.

BotShare's launch is being hailed as a pivotal step in the commercialization of humanoid robots in China.

Investors responded with enthusiasm. Swancor Advanced Materials, a company controlled by AgiBot now, saw its shares surge 8.19 percent on Monday to close at 106.13 yuan. The stock has already seen an over ten-fold increase in value this year.