BRAND · EDUCATION HUMANOIDS

Booster Robotics

Booster Robotics makes humanoids you can actually afford to put in a classroom — compact bipeds with full SDK access, RoboCup pedigree, and pricing that undercuts the industrial giants. It is a developer platform first, not a factory worker.

By Editorial Team · Updated June 5, 2026 · 10 min read

2023

FOUNDED

Beijing, China

HEADQUARTERS

Tsinghua-led team

ORIGIN

Series A+ (2025)

LATEST FUNDING

2 (T1 + K1)

ACTIVE MODELS

Global shipping

AVAILABLE IN

Last verified June 2026 against booster.tech, WRC 2024 launch records, RoboCup partnership announcements, and public funding disclosures.

OUR TAKE

The humanoid built for classrooms and RoboCup — not factory floors

Booster Robotics was founded in 2023 in Beijing by Cheng Hao, a Tsinghua University graduate who previously worked on the university's RoboCup humanoid team and at ByteDance. The core team draws from Tsinghua's Robot Control Lab and the Tsinghua Hephaestus RoboCup squad — roughly 20 years of humanoid-robotics depth compressed into a startup aimed at making bipedal platforms accessible to developers, schools, and research labs.

The flagship Booster T1 debuted at the World Robot Conference (WRC) in Beijing in August 2024. It is a compact biped: roughly 118 cm tall, about 30 kg, with 23 degrees of freedom in the base configuration (up to 41 with dexterous hands), an NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin for onboard AI, and ROS 2 support with open SDK access. Booster also sells the smaller Booster K1 — under 20 kg, suitcase-portable, starting around a few thousand dollars — as an entry-level embodied-AI development platform.

Where Booster stands out is competitive robotics credibility, not industrial deployment. It is an official RoboCup partner; T1 robots powered the gold and silver medallists in the 2025 RoboCup Humanoid League AdultSize category. Booster won consecutive championships at IEEE-RAS Humanoids 2024 in racing and obstacle avoidance. At NVIDIA's Spring Festival event, a Booster T1 was the only humanoid on display and was signed by Jensen Huang — a marketing moment, but one that reflects real developer-community traction.

Commercially, Booster targets education and research buyers with aggressive pricing: T1 runs roughly $30,000–$50,000 depending on configuration — far below industrial humanoids from Figure or Agility. The company completed Pre-A, Series A (led by Shenzhen Capital Group), and Series A+ rounds (Beijing Robotics Industry Development Investment Fund and Beijing AI Industry Investment Fund among investors). In December 2025 it reported monthly operating cash flow turning positive; at CES 2026 its K1 units sold out at the booth.

For a US or UK buyer, Booster is worth evaluating if you run a robotics curriculum, a research lab, or a developer team that needs an affordable biped with SDK access — not if you need a full-size industrial worker. The compact form factor, ~2-hour battery, and education-first support model are features for schools and limitations for factories.

THE LINEUP

Every model Booster Robotics currently makes

A summary of each Booster Robotics robot we cover, with our pick for most households.

Booster T1

The education-focused Shenzhen-based company Booster Robotics is among the most educational humanoid platform builders in China’s humanoid industry, and T1 is Booster’s flagship platform that pairs a small form factor with affordable pricing and a developer-oriented commercial platform strategy that target education-focused use cases. It’s unclear whether Booster’s education-oriented positioning produces a platform to take seriously or if the small form factor makes the platform unattractive for more serious research use cases.

HOSI 6.2 / 10 overall

Read full Booster T1 review →

REAL OWNER SENTIMENT

What owners say about Booster Robotics

Booster T1 owners are mostly universities, robotics startups, and developer communities — not household buyers. Discussion centers on whether the education pricing and RoboCup performance justify the smaller form factor versus full-size research humanoids.

REDDIT May 2026

u/robotics_edu

“T1 finally made humanoid access realistic for our university lab budget. Compact, SDK is solid, and Booster actually supports curriculum integration — not just shipping a box.”

EDUCATION ACCESS

YOUTUBE Apr 2026

@robocup_watch

“Gold and silver at RoboCup AdultSize on T1 hardware — that's not marketing, that's teams choosing the platform because it works under competition stress.”

COMPETITION PROOF

REDDIT Mar 2026

u/fullsize_or_bust

“At 120 cm and 3 kg payload it's a teaching robot, not a serious manipulation platform. Great for class, wrong if you need industrial-grade reach or runtime.”

CAPABILITY LIMITS

WILL THE COMPANY BE AROUND IN 5 YEARS?

Booster Robotics business stability

Booster Robotics is a young but well-funded Beijing startup. It has raised across Pre-A (tens of millions of dollars, with investors including CMBC International, Zhongguancun Science City, and INNO Angel), Series A (Shenzhen Capital Group lead, with Source Code Capital and others reinvesting), and Series A+ (Beijing Robotics Industry Development Investment Fund and Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund). The company reported turning monthly operating cash flow positive in December 2025 — an early sign of commercial traction for an education-focused hardware business.

Leadership is technically grounded. Founder and CEO Cheng Hao holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Tsinghua University and built the company around Tsinghua Robot Control Lab and RoboCup alumni, supplemented by hires from ByteDance and Xiaohongshu (RED). That gives Booster deep humanoid-control expertise relative to its age.

The risk is narrow positioning. Booster is explicitly education- and developer-first; it is not competing for warehouse or factory contracts. International buyers should also weigh China-based supply-chain and support logistics, even though Booster advertises worldwide T1 shipping.

Quick risk summary

Funding & traction

Multiple rounds through Series A+; monthly cash flow positive reported Dec 2025; CES 2026 K1 sell-through.

Technical pedigree

Tsinghua RoboCup team roots; RoboCup and IEEE-RAS competition wins on T1 hardware.

Narrow market focus

Education/developer only; compact form factor limits industrial and home use cases.

HOW BOOSTER ROBOTICS HANDLES YOUR DATA

Booster Robotics privacy and data approach

Booster T1 ships with cameras, depth sensing (Intel RealSense D455), a microphone array, and optional 5G — standard for a developer humanoid but meaningful in classrooms and shared lab spaces. Booster provides SDK access that lets institutions control what data flows where, but there is no published Western-style consumer privacy policy because the product is sold as a developer/research platform.

The robot runs onboard compute (NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin) with Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth, and Ethernet, and supports optional edge LLM integration. Cloud dependencies depend on how each institution configures its deployment — Booster's default stack is developer-controlled rather than cloud-mandatory.

For US or UK household buyers, Booster is not marketed as a home robot; privacy evaluation matters mainly for schools and labs adopting T1 into shared educational environments.

WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG

Where you can get a Booster Robotics serviced

Booster Robotics supports customers through its Beijing headquarters and direct sales channels, including worldwide T1 shipping advertised on booster.tech. Support is oriented toward educational institutions, developers, and research labs — not enterprise white-glove industrial service.

Country	Location	Contact
China	Beijing, Haidian (HQ)	https://www.booster.tech/
Online	Global sales	https://www.booster.tech/

QUESTIONS

Frequently asked questions about Booster Robotics

Is Booster Robotics a real, legitimate company?

Yes. Booster Robotics was founded in 2023 in Beijing by Cheng Hao, a Tsinghua University graduate. It has raised Pre-A through Series A+ rounds, debuted the T1 at WRC 2024, and is an official RoboCup partner.

Where is Booster Robotics based?

Beijing, China (Haidian District). Despite some third-party listings citing Shenzhen, Booster's official headquarters and company registrations point to Beijing.

What is the Booster T1?

The T1 is Booster's flagship compact bipedal humanoid: ~118 cm tall, ~30 kg, 23–41 DoF depending on configuration, with NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin compute, ROS 2 SDK support, and pricing around $30,000–$50,000.

Can I buy a Booster T1 in the US or UK?

Booster advertises worldwide T1 shipping. It sells to educational institutions, robotics startups, and developers — not as a consumer home product. Check booster.tech for current availability and import requirements.

How is Booster T1 different from the K1?

T1 is the full-size education/research biped (~118 cm). K1 is the smaller entry-level platform (under 20 kg, ~95 cm) designed for STEM education, soccer competitions, and lower-budget developer use, with pricing starting significantly lower.

Is Booster T1 a home robot?

No. Booster explicitly targets scientific research, education, and developer scenarios. T1 is a compact education/research platform, not a residential household robot.