BrainCo hand sales rise on robot demand

BrainCo expects a sharp rise in sales of its robotic hands this year as China’s humanoid robotics industry pushes beyond laboratory demonstrations into factory trials, logistics pilots and commercial component sourcing.

The Hangzhou-based prosthetics and neurotechnology developer, founded in 2015, is seeing demand broaden from medical bionic hands to dexterous hands designed for humanoid robots. Its latest Revo hand models place the company in a fast-growing supply chain where five-fingered manipulation, tactile sensing and lightweight actuator design are becoming central to the race to build robots capable of useful physical work.

The shift marks an important expansion for BrainCo, which built its reputation in brain-computer interface devices and intelligent prosthetics. Its robotic hand technology was originally developed to help amputees perform fine motor tasks through neural and muscle-signal control. The same engineering now has a second market: humanoid robot makers that need reliable hands to grasp tools, sort packages, handle delicate objects and perform repetitive industrial tasks.

BrainCo’s Revo2 dexterous hand weighs about 383 grammes, delivers whole-hand grip force of 50 newtons and can support an external load of 20 kilogrammes. The device uses multi-dimensional tactile sensing to detect pressure, hardness and texture, a feature that allows a robot to adjust grip force rather than merely close its fingers around an object. That capability is increasingly seen as essential for humanoids moving from scripted demonstrations to workplaces where objects vary in shape, weight and fragility.

China’s robotics sector is being reshaped by a wider push into “physical AI”, a term used across the industry for artificial intelligence systems that can act in the physical world. Humanoid developers including Unitree, UBTech, AgiBot, Fourier Intelligence and other start-ups are racing to cut hardware costs, improve reliability and gather training data from real-world movement. Global technology groups are also intensifying their efforts, with Nvidia, Tesla, Figure AI, Boston Dynamics, Agility Robotics, Meta and OpenAI all expanding work connected to humanoids or general-purpose robots.

Robotic hands have emerged as one of the hardest bottlenecks in the sector. Legs can attract public attention through running, dancing and stair-climbing demonstrations, but hands determine whether a humanoid can complete economically valuable tasks. A machine that cannot manipulate objects with precision remains limited in warehouses, factories, care settings and homes.

The market opportunity has drawn capital into specialist component makers. Global investment in robotics and physical AI grew from about $4bn in 2019 to $26bn in 2025, with more than $23bn raised this year by companies in the field. China has become one of the most competitive centres for hardware suppliers because of its manufacturing depth, electronics supply chains and aggressive pricing.

BrainCo is not alone. LinkerBot, founded in 2023, has become a prominent producer of dexterous robotic hands, with backers including Ant Group, HongShan and Fosun Capital. Its low-cost hands, sold in China from about $600, have been positioned for mass deployment in humanoids and industrial systems. The company has been reported to hold a large share of high-degree-of-freedom robotic hand shipments, underscoring the intensity of competition in a field that could determine which robot makers can scale fastest.

BrainCo’s advantage lies in its dual background in prosthetics and neural interfaces. Medical bionic hands require comfort, weight control, responsiveness and safety around humans. Those same attributes are valuable in humanoid robotics, where bulky or fragile hands increase energy use and reduce operational reliability. The company’s experience in user-facing assistive devices also gives it data on natural hand movement, grip patterns and control systems.

The commercial challenge remains substantial. Humanoid robots are still expensive, difficult to maintain and far from replacing workers across broad categories of labour. Many deployments remain pilot projects, and investors are scrutinising whether highly publicised robot demonstrations can translate into durable sales. Dexterous hands also face trade-offs between price, durability, precision, grip strength and repairability, especially when used in industrial environments.