From a leading traditional special steel producer to a rapidly transforming high-end new materials platform, Tiangong International (00826) is intensifying its strategic push into the humanoid robotics sector, following its earlier moves into nuclear fusion materials, titanium alloys, and PCB micro-drills. On July 17th, the company's subsidiary, Tiangong Co., Ltd. (920068), invested 17.5415 million yuan to participate in establishing a special fund with a total size of 51.585 million yuan, managed by the prominent institution Fosun Capital. After reserving a minor amount for operational expenses, the fund's entire capital contribution will be directed to Nanjing Inx Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. This move signifies Tiangong Co., Ltd. is leveraging capital ties to deeply engage with a key downstream client, accelerating the optimization of its materials application strategy for humanoid robots.

This is not Tiangong International's first foray into the humanoid robotics arena. Building on its long-term expertise in special steel and new materials, the company has strategically positioned itself as a "high-end new materials platform" across several high-value segments. This includes high-nitrogen steel for ball screws and harmonic reducers, and titanium alloy powder for lightweight skeletal structures, effectively constructing a "material+" business blueprint for humanoid robotics that is already yielding tangible results.

In the high-nitrogen steel segment crucial for ball screws—a component accounting for 35% to 60% of a humanoid robot's bill of materials and representing the most concentrated value, previously reliant on imports—Tiangong International has introduced several grades like TPMDC02A. This is achieved through its powder metallurgy, hot isostatic pressing, and powder nitriding processes. As early as March 2025, the company formed a strategic partnership with Runfu Power, one of the few globally with commercial mass-production capability, delivering the first batch of four specifications of TPMDC02A in July. Concurrently, it collaborated with Heng Erda to develop specialized high-nitrogen alloys for ball screws.

In the skeletal lightweighting segment using titanium powder, Tiangong International's 15-53μm titanium alloy powder is suitable for 3D printing processes, enabling efficient lightweighting of key humanoid components. This can be combined with its existing high-nitrogen steel for screws and joint materials to form a packaged solution of "lightweight skeleton + precision transmission," representing a medium-to-long-term new growth driver within its humanoid robotics strategy.

The recent investment in Inx through the special fund further expands Tiangong International's value proposition in this field. Its coverage has now extended from screw transmission, processing consumables, and lightweight skeletons to the critical, high-value-added segment of integrated joint modules. This marks a strategic transition from simply "selling materials" to "penetrating core components."

Inx's Proven Track Record

The caliber of Inx itself justifies the potential of Tiangong International's move. Founded in September 2022, this Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics spin-off achieved a milestone in just three years, becoming the industry's first to demonstrate an "100,000-unit level" shipment volume for joint modules: surpassing 10,000 units in 2024 and leaping directly to 100,000 units in 2025, a tenfold year-on-year increase. Its core competence lies in "full-stack in-house R&D." Inx is among the few domestic manufacturers capable of simultaneously developing reducers, motors, drivers, encoders, and integrating them into unified joint modules. Its product line covers planetary, harmonic, and cycloidal series and extends to the world's smallest 20-degree-of-freedom dexterous hand.

More critically, Inx's products have withstood validation in extreme scenarios. The champion and runner-up robots, "Tiangong Ultra" and "N2," at the 2025 Beijing Yizhuang Half Marathon used Inx solutions for all body joints, with over 50% of participating robots being its clients. This proportion increased to 60% at the Chengdu World Games. Its clientele already covers leading domestic humanoid manufacturers like Accelerated Evolution, Songyan Dynamics, and Leju, and it has entered the supply chain for the robotic arms of the American embodied AI unicorn PI. It has also gained recognition in the B/G and research markets from entities like FAW Die and Mould and Beihang University.

Tangible Benefits from the Partnership

This investment by Tiangong International through its subsidiary not only refines its "material+" strategic puzzle but also brings two substantial benefits. First, it opens a clear pathway for material sampling and volume scaling. As an industrial shareholder, Tiangong International can submit samples of its high-nitrogen steel (for high-end bearings) and titanium alloys (for lightweight joint housings) to Inx. Once validated, these materials can be rapidly integrated. Inx's annual production capacity of 100,000 joint modules serves as a practical engine to drive the volume scaling of these two new material categories for Tiangong International.

Second, a closed-loop for R&D feedback is formally established. Previously, when developing downstream applications for materials like high-nitrogen steel and titanium alloy, Tiangong International's R&D logic leaned more towards "supply-side push," incurring certain trial-and-error costs. Now, the vast data from Inx's 100,000 modules can flow back frequently to Tiangong International's R&D department. This resonance between "end-demand pull" and "supply-side push" will significantly shorten material validation cycles, accelerate iteration efficiency on the materials side for humanoid robotics, and thus speed up the building of the company's core competitive advantages in materials.

Strategic Transformation and Value Reassessment

Consequently, humanoid robotics is becoming a key footnote in Tiangong International's transformation from a "traditional special steel" label to a high-end new materials platform. While the broader market may not have fully recognized it, the company has quietly completed a closed-loop strategic layout across four high-value segments: from screw transmission and processing consumables to lightweight skeletons and integrated joint modules. Like a composed chess player, it has made its moves on the eve of the industry's explosion.

This represents not just a physical extension of business but also a cognitive "expectation gap." As related products continue to scale within the humanoid robotics field and drive earnings growth, the intrinsic value of both Tiangong International and Tiangong Co., Ltd. is poised for a new round of reassessment.