Recently, Shenzhen has fostered the emergence of a robotic super unicorn: FJ Dynamics. This company specializes in agricultural robots and is making rapid strides towards an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Its robots are predominantly utilized in agriculture and livestock farming, performing tasks such as plowing, rice planting, field management (including pesticide spraying), and harvesting. For instance, at a soybean planting base in Northeast China, farmers employ tractors equipped with this system for plowing. This eliminates the need for frequent manual steering and results in straight furrows.

In the first half of 2025, the company's total revenue reached approximately 358 million yuan, with agricultural and livestock farming operations contributing over 70%. Additionally, it secured the second position globally in the aftermarket kit market, holding a 16.9% share. Its unmanned rice transplanters and autonomous tractors have been widely implemented across multiple provinces and cities nationwide.

FJ Dynamics' rapid progress has sparked two emerging opportunities.

1. Breakthroughs in related new technologies: This includes advancements such as low-cost precision navigation and AI-based edge control for agricultural machinery.

2. Overseas expansion into emerging markets: This encompasses regions like Southeast Asia and Africa.

The labor shortage in Southeast Asia's rice-growing areas is expanding by 8% annually. Meanwhile, Africa faces low per capita farming efficiency. Both regions are in urgent need of low-cost robots, and countries such as Indonesia and Kenya have introduced subsidies and tax exemptions to encourage their adoption.

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What was the impetus behind the founding of FJ Dynamics? Founder Wu Di aimed to leverage technology to revolutionize agriculture. He graduated from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics with a bachelor's degree, earned a master's degree from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications in 2003, and obtained a Ph.D. from Linköping University in Sweden in 2009. He specialized in chip development and intelligent algorithms for many years.

After studying abroad, Wu Di initially served as Vice President of System Engineering at Europe's Coresonic AB, where he participated in the development of 4G communication chip technology. In 2012, he returned to China and held positions as Director of Communications Systems at Spreadtrum Communications and Professor at Soochow University. In 2016, he joined DJI Innovation, leading research and development in industrial automation and intelligent hardware.

His deep-rooted memories of rural life ultimately steered him towards the agricultural sector. In 2017, he founded FJ Dynamics, determined to use robots to transform traditional agricultural production methods.

At the outset of his entrepreneurial journey, Wu Di led his team on a two-month field research trip to farms in Shandong and Northeast China. This led to a crucial realization: "The reliability and interference resistance requirements of agricultural robots far exceed those of consumer electronics."

This insight prompted the establishment of a differentiated "ground-up" approach. The team abandoned the then-popular drone-based crop protection methods and focused on automating traditional agricultural machinery. In 2019, they developed China's first unmanned intelligent rice transplanter, with first-year sales exceeding 500 units. Today, the company boasts over 300 dealers, with products covering 78 cities nationwide and entering the European and U.S. markets.

Despite facing substantial early-stage R&D investments and cumulative losses exceeding 1.2 billion yuan over three and a half years, Wu Di led the company to continuous breakthroughs. Giants like Tencent and Dongfeng invested in the company, and technologies for unmanned operations in plowing, planting, management, and harvesting were gradually implemented. His initial goal was for robots to handle 80% of farm work, and he is now one step closer to achieving this vision.

FJ Dynamics' current business focus is on developing autonomous robots.

Its core products include agricultural autonomous navigation systems, livestock farming robots, construction control systems, and cleaning robots. These products assist users in digitizing and automating traditional labor-intensive tasks. The company's revenue primarily comes from robot equipment sales and software subscription services such as Trion and farm management systems.

As of the end of 2024, the company's revenue reached 570 million yuan, with agricultural and livestock products accounting for 77.8%, remaining the core revenue source.

FJ Dynamics primarily sells its products through domestic and international distribution partners. In 2024, the top five customers contributed 22.3% of the revenue.

Before FJ Dynamics emerged, agricultural autonomous navigation heavily relied on imported systems, which were costly, difficult to maintain, and had poor compatibility. FJ Dynamics achieved compatibility with different brands of agricultural machinery through its self-developed RTK system and open control platform.

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The intelligent agricultural robot industry has generally undergone three stages:

1. The automation experimentation period around 2010, which focused on guidance systems and basic sensing.

2. The industrialization phase from 2015 to 2020, when global agricultural machinery manufacturers widely adopted navigation and control technologies.

3. The system integration and intelligent decision-making phase after 2020, where AI algorithms, RTK positioning, and multi-sensor fusion became mainstream.

According to Frost & Sullivan data, the combined market share of agricultural, livestock, construction, and facility management robots accounted for 24.7% of the global robot market in 2024. This is expected to rise to 29.6% by 2029, with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 16.1%. This growth is driven by labor shortages, aging populations, and strong demand for efficient and sustainable production.

The intelligent agricultural sector, in which FJ Dynamics operates, receives global policy support. The EU's 2023–2027 Common Agricultural Policy allocates over 387 billion euros, prioritizing digital agriculture. The U.S. also provides equipment subsidies and R&D funding. China's 14th Five-Year Plan lists intelligent agricultural machinery as a core component of agricultural modernization, with policy incentives accelerating industry adoption.

The industry is transitioning from point automation to full-process integration. Future farm management will be unified by AI platforms, enabling data-driven planting decisions. Meanwhile, low-cost RTK, visual navigation, and AI edge computing are emerging as new technology directions, offering higher precision and more flexible deployment. However, challenges remain in algorithm generalization and environmental adaptability.

In 2024, the global agricultural autonomous steering system market was highly concentrated, with the top five players holding approximately 70.6% of the market share. FJ Dynamics ranked third globally with an 8.5% share and second in the aftermarket system segment (16.9%). Domestic competitors include Hi-Target, Jing Tiancheng, and Hui Geng Yun, but they lag behind FJ Dynamics in product integration and overseas expansion.

During the reporting period, FJ Dynamics' revenue continued to grow, reaching 504 million yuan, 530 million yuan, 570 million yuan, and 358 million yuan, respectively.

However, the company continued to incur losses, with annual/period losses of 333 million yuan, 471 million yuan, 334 million yuan, and 151 million yuan, respectively. This accumulated to 1.288 billion yuan over three and a half years. Adjusted net profits were -291 million yuan, -226 million yuan, -72.279 million yuan, and 21.934 million yuan, respectively. The company achieved a year-on-year turnaround to profitability in the first half of 2025.

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Despite the rising concentration in the global agricultural robot market, with leading companies dominating the entire industry chain, there are still niche opportunities that align with FJ Dynamics' development path and industry needs.

In the technology sector, low-cost precision navigation and AI-based edge control for agricultural machinery are key entry points for new players.

Mainstream high-precision navigation relies on imports and costs over 10,000 yuan. New players can leverage "BeiDou civilian signals + domestic chips" to reduce the cost of navigation modules with 1-meter positioning accuracy to under 3,000 yuan. These modules are suitable for retrofitting traditional agricultural machinery. In AI edge control, lightweight modules enable real-time identification and dynamic adjustment at the agricultural machinery end, costing only one-fifth of cloud-based solutions.

FJ Dynamics focuses on high-end complete machines, leaving room for new players in the modular market. Some startups already profit by providing compatible modules for FJ Dynamics.

Emerging markets (Southeast Asia, Africa) represent incremental growth opportunities.

The labor shortage in Southeast Asia's rice-growing regions is expanding by 8% annually, while Africa suffers from low per capita farming efficiency. Both regions are in urgent need of low-cost robots, and countries like Indonesia and Kenya have introduced subsidies and tax exemptions. Players must adapt to local crops and infrastructure, developing low-power, easy-to-maintain products, such as sub-10,000-yuan small unmanned rice transplanters for Southeast Asia. FJ Dynamics is also expanding in these regions, with overseas revenue increasing by 67% in the first half of 2025. New players need to optimize details like tracks and waterproofing to suit local environments.

This article does not constitute any investment advice.