Apptronik Secures $350 Million in Series A Funding to Accelerate Humanoid Robot Development

Apptronik Secures $350 Million in Series A Funding with Backing from Google

"This will fuel the deployment of Apollo, allow us to scale our operations, meeting the global demand for humanoid robots." US-based humanoid robotics company Apptronik has raised $350 million in Series A funding to expand the production of its humanoid robot, Apollo, and meet growing customer demand. As per the company's blog, the funding round was co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory and saw participation from Google as well. This comes to light after the company's latest partnership with Google DeepMind's robotics team to create truly intelligent and autonomous robots. The company took to X to announce: "This will fuel the deployment of Apollo, allow us to scale our operations, and get us one step closer to meeting the global demand for humanoid robots." The investment will accelerate Apptronik's development of next-generation humanoid robots and enhance Apollo's capabilities for industries such as logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare. "We're creating the world's most advanced and capable humanoid robots, designed to work alongside humans in meaningful ways," said Jeff Cardenas, CEO and co-founder of Apptronik. Capital Factory chairman Gordon Daugherty, who is also Apptronik's first outside board director, further added, "Apollo's friendly and approachable design reflects the company's vision for humanoid robots that benefit businesses and individuals alike." The latest funding will also allow Apptronik to explore new robot models. The company has grown significantly in recent years. In 2022, it partnered with NASA to advance humanoid robotics and collaborated with NVIDIA to develop dexterous manipulation technology. NVIDIA also seemed to have changed its course slightly toward robotics. Apptronik's commercial agreements with Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics further demonstrate market interest. Founded in 2016 at the University of Texas at Austin, Apptronik has developed 15 robotic systems, including NASA's Valkyrie. Apollo, designed for industrial work, is set for expanded deployment in 2025. With only $28 million raised before this round, Apptronik has demonstrated capital efficiency. The latest funding positions it as a leader in AI-powered humanoid robotics. "Humanoid robots will play a key role in addressing challenges from disaster relief to space exploration," added Howard Morgan, chair and general partner of B Capital. On a similar note, Elon Musk said, "Once you have humanoid robots and deep intelligence, you essentially have access to quasi-infinite products and services." He added that Tesla's advancements in humanoid robotics, combined with AI at the data centre level, could enable these machines to operate autonomously, learning and adapting to tasks across industries at an unprecedented scale. Adding on to this, Brett Adcock, founder of Figure robots, also recently said in a post on X, "In our lifetime, you will see more humanoid robots than humans when you're out and about." He was referring to Figure's new Robot/AI Campus, which is nearing completion, with the team set to move in within weeks. The new facility will significantly expand manufacturing, robot testing, fleet operations, and engineering capabilities. Adcock emphasised that this growth reflects the company's mission to scale humanoid robotics and bring millions of robots into real-world deployment. The company also encouraged those seeking challenging but impactful work to join its efforts in shaping the future of robotics. In an interview with AIM, Satish Shukla, co-founder of Addverb, recently discussed the company's plans to launch its humanoid this year and his views on the future of humanoids. Shukla believed it would take another three to four years for humanoids to become as prevalent as humans. "For every human, we probably might have one humanoid," he added.

Apptronik to scale up production of robots that work alongside humans

"By uniting cutting-edge AI with hardware engineered for meaningful interaction, we're shaping a future where robots become true partners in driving progress. It's inspiring to have investors who believe in this vision and are committed to helping us bring it to life," said Cardenas. The company has announced the successful closing of a $350 million Series A funding round co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory, with participation from Google. With the latest funding, Apptronik will accelerate the development of next-generation humanoid robots, including quickly advancing iterations of Apollo and exploring new form factors. New innovations will expand Apollo's capabilities, enabling it to address a wide range of applications in industries like logistics and manufacturing, as well as eldercare and healthcare in the future, according to the company. The funding is also expected to help the company push the boundaries of humanoid robot design and development. Apptronik's full-stack approach to designing a humanoid robot platform underscores its commitment to innovation and the creation of human-centered robots that are not only highly functional but also user-friendly and approachable, as per the company. Apptronik claims its world-class design includes a heritage of unique actuation, or motor, technology that unlocks affordability, simplifies maintenance, and paves the way for mass production.

Apptronik raises $350 million to scale production of humanoid robots

(Reuters) - Apptronik said on Thursday it has raised $350 million in a funding round led by B Capital and Capital Factory, with participation from Alphabet's Google, to scale production of AI-powered humanoid robots. The Austin, Texas-based company is developing Apollo, a human-like or humanoid robots whose tasks will include working in warehouses and manufacturing plants by moving packages and other supply chain-oriented tasks. Apptronik joins the ranks of rivals like Tesla and Nvidia-backed Figure AI in the race to develop human-like robots as advancements in artificial intelligence lead to significant breakthroughs in robotics and automation. In October last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that "a lot of progress" has been made with its humanoid robot "Optimus" that could perform many daily tasks. "This represents an inflection point for the industry. The way I think about robotics and AI is it's very similar to large language models in 2023. So I think 2025 is where you're going to see a lot of activity for robotics," CEO and co-founder of Apptronik, Jeff Cardenas said in an interview with Reuters. The company, which said it plans "expanded deployment" of Apollo this year, will use the investment to expand the robot's capabilities to other industries including elder care and healthcare. Apptronik has a partnership with Google DeepMind robotics team and said it has commercial agreements with Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics for its humanoid robots. (Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco and Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

AI-powered humanoid robotics company Apptronik raises $350M - SiliconANGLE

Apptronik Inc., the maker of artificial intelligence-powered humanoid robots, today announced it raised $350 million in a Series A round co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory with participation from Google to advance the development of its next-gen robot Apollo. Humanoid robots have continued to lead industry interest with their potential for working alongside humans in factories, warehouses and potentially hazardous environments. By designing a robot that is similar in form to people, powered by AI, humanoid robots can perform tasks like humans without putting them in harm's way or work alongside them. "We're creating the world's most advanced and capable humanoid robots, designed to work alongside humans in meaningful and transformative ways," said Jeff Cardenas, chief executive and co-founder of Apptronik. "By uniting cutting-edge AI with hardware engineered for meaningful interaction, we're shaping a future where robots become true partners in driving progress." The company's flagship robot, Apollo, is an AI-powered humanoid designed for industrial work that the company said will operate in warehouses and manufacturing plants in the near term and eventually extend to construction, oil and gas, electronics, retail and delivery. Apptronick said it designed the robot for friendly interaction, high payload lifting and carry capacity and mass production. Apptronik recently partnered with the Google DeepMind robotics team to innovate on the best-in-class hardware and intelligence for humanoid robots. DeepMind brings the power of Google LLC's state-of-the-art Gemini model and knowledge of machine learning algorithms for robotics. It has also been developing AI systems for robotics applications to solve the hardest challenges facing the industry.

Apptronik Gets $350M To Build Better Humanoid Robots

Although robotics funding remained relatively unchanged last year, some humanoid robot startups have seen massive cash from investors. Add Apptronik to that list, as the Austin, Texas-based AI-powered humanoid robotics company locked up a $350 million Series A co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory, with participation from Google. Founded in 2016, Apptronik had previously raised $28 million, per the company. The startup said it will use the fresh cash to develop Apollo, its humanoid robot designed for industrial work. The company, which competes with Tesla, has partnered with NASA and Nvidia, and has developed 15 robotic systems, including NASA's humanoid robot Valkyrie. "We're creating the world's most advanced and capable humanoid robots, designed to work alongside humans in meaningful and transformative ways," said co-founder and CEO Jeff Cardenas in the funding announcement. "By uniting cutting-edge AI with hardware engineered for meaningful interaction, we're shaping a future where robots become true partners in driving progress. It's inspiring to have investors who believe in this vision and are committed to helping us bring it to life." This is far from the only big-money round to go to a robotics startup recently. Also it was only about a year ago when Sunnyvale, California-based Figure, which is developing AI-enhanced robots that it hopes will be able to perform dangerous jobs and alleviate labor shortages, raised a huge $675 million round at a pre-money valuation of roughly $2 billion. That round included investments from Nvidia, Bezos' Explore Investments and others.

Apptronik Raises $350 Million to Scale Production of AI-Powered Humanoid Robots and Meet Significant Customer Demand

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Apptronik, the AI-powered humanoid robotics company, announced the successful closing of a $350 million Series A funding round co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory, with participation from Google. The new funding marks a pivotal moment for Apptronik, fueling the deployment of Apollo -- its groundbreaking humanoid robot -- while enabling the company to scale operations, accelerate innovation, and grow its world-class team to meet the surging demand for next-generation, AI-powered humanoid robots. "We're creating the world's most advanced and capable humanoid robots, designed to work alongside humans in meaningful and transformative ways," said Jeff Cardenas, CEO and co-founder of Apptronik. "By uniting cutting-edge AI with hardware engineered for meaningful interaction, we're shaping a future where robots become true partners in driving progress. It's inspiring to have investors who believe in this vision and are committed to helping us bring it to life." Capital Factory Chairman and first outside board director of Apptronik, Gordon Daugherty said, "We continue to be proud investors in Apptronik because we believe they're not just building robots -- they're setting a new standard in human-centered AI. Apollo's refreshingly friendly and approachable design perfectly reflects the company's vision for humanoid robots that benefit businesses, individuals, and humanity. We believe Apptronik is leading the charge in a rapidly growing market." This investment allows Apptronik to: Accelerate the development of next-generation humanoid robots, including quickly advancing iterations of Apollo and exploring new form factors. New innovations will expand Apollo's capabilities, enabling it to address a wide range of applications in industries like logistics and manufacturing, as well as eldercare and healthcare in the future.Push the boundaries of humanoid robot design and development. Apptronik's full-stack approach to designing a humanoid robot platform underscores its commitment to innovation and the creation of human-centered robots that are not only highly functional but also user-friendly and approachable. Apptronik's world-class design includes a heritage of unique actuation, or motor, technology that unlocks affordability, simplifies maintenance, and paves the way for mass production.Meet skyrocketing customer demand. Apptronik is scaling manufacturing of Apollo units to fulfill growing orders across priority verticals -- including automotive, electronics manufacturing, third-party logistics providers, beverage bottling and fulfillment, and consumer packaged goods. This follows three transformative years of record growth for Apptronik. In 2022, Apptronik joined forces with NASA to advance humanoid robotics innovation. Last year, the company collaborated with NVIDIA to show dexterous manipulation and will work with customers to leverage Apollo in Omniverse digital twins. It also established a landmark strategic partnership with the Google DeepMind robotics team to combine best-in-class AI with Apptronik's cutting-edge humanoid robot platform. Furthermore, the company secured foundational commercial agreements with industry leaders Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics, demonstrating the real-world applications and market demand for its advanced humanoid robots. Founded in 2016 at the University of Texas at Austin's Human Centered Robotics Lab, Apptronik has established itself as a leader in humanoid robotics. The company has developed 15 robotic systems, including the NASA Valkyrie, before unveiling Apollo -- an AI-powered humanoid designed for industrial work. Built for seamless collaboration in logistics, manufacturing, and retail, Apollo combines technical excellence with human-centered design. With expanded deployment planned for 2025, Apollo is poised to transform workplaces worldwide. Apptronik accomplished this with only $28 million in previous funding, demonstrating impressive capital efficiency. This $350 million Series A funding round underscores the growing confidence in Apptronik's execution and vision for the future of humanoid robotics. Backed by key partners and investors, this new funding fuels the continued development and deployment of Apollo, positioning Apptronik at the forefront of creating scalable, AI-powered solutions for industrial applications today and consumer applications in the near future. "With Apptronik, we see a world in which humanoid robots play a vital role in addressing societal challenges -- from assisting with disaster relief and elder care to supporting space exploration and medical advancements. Industry leaders like Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics are already seeing the real-world impact of Apptronik's technology," said Howard Morgan, Chair and General Partner of B Capital. "We back the most innovative founders, and there's no exception here. Jeff and the team are redefining robotics while reshaping our world for the better." About Apptronik Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered humanoid robots. Our goal is to create human helpers to support humanity in every facet of life. Our robot, Apollo, is designed to collaborate thoughtfully with humans -- initially in critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond. Apollo is the culmination of nearly a decade of development, drawing on Apptronik's extensive work on 15 previous robots, including NASA's Valkyrie robot. Apptronik started out of the Human Centered Robotics Lab at the University of Texas at Austin and has over 150 employees. Media Contact apptronik@launchsquad.com Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

AI humanoid robots step closer - thanks to new $350 million investment

Apptronik's latest round of funding will accelerate the deployment of Apollo, its 5-foot, 8-inch, 160-pound robot. AI-powered humanoid robots that co-exist with humans to help our workloads may seem like the plot of a sci-fi movie, but companies have been working on them for years. Case in point: Apptronik, a robotics lab founded in early 2016, has been working on a 5-foot 8-inch, 160-pound, general-purpose humanoid robot named Apollo. The company's latest funding will accelerate the robot's deployment. On Wednesday, Austin-based Apptronik announced the closing of a $350 million Series A funding round that will be used to fuel Apollo's deployment, scale company operations, grow its team, and accelerate innovation, according to a company press release. The investment was co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory with participation from DeepMind, Google's AI lab. Also: OpenAI eyes the wearables business: Robots, headsets, watches and a whole lot more "With Apptronik, we see a world in which humanoid robots play a vital role in addressing societal challenges -- from assisting with disaster relief and elder care to supporting space exploration and medical advancements," said Howard Morgan, chair and general partner of B Capital. With the investment, Apptronik plans to explore different form factors for Apollo, further develop its full-stack robot platform, and expand the robot's capabilities so that it can address a wide range of applications across different industries such as logistics, manufacturing, eldercare, and healthcare. Lastly, the funding will be used to increase Apollo's manufacturing to meet what the company describes as "skyrocketing customer demand." According to the post, the orders span different verticals, including automotive, electronics manufacturing, third-party logistics providers, beverage bottling and fulfillment, and consumer packaged goods. "By uniting cutting-edge AI with hardware engineered for meaningful interaction, we're shaping a future where robots become true partners in driving progress," said Jeff Cardenas, CEO and co-founder of Apptronik. In 2022, Apptronik partnered with NASA to develop Apollo. At the time, NASA said Apollo could help establish bases for human missions to other planets and astronomical bodies, such as the Moon and Mars. Also: The billion-dollar AI company no one is talking about - and why you should care A year later, Apptronik launched Apollo in alpha, securing commercial agreements with Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics. Apptronik also partnered with Google DeepMind to combine its AI expertise with Apptronik's humanoid robot platform. The new funding will allow the company to build on that momentum and better compete in the humanoid robot market -- which has several established and upcoming players. Tesla also has a humanoid robot named Optimus, known as the Tesla bot, and seems to be ramping up development with dozens of job openings available across AI, robotics, manufacturing, IT, and more. Similarly, last month, Caitlin Kalinowski, who joined OpenAI in November to lead the robotics and consumer hardware team, shared the first OpenAI Robotics hardware roles, including an EE Sensing Engineer, Robotics Mechanical Design Engineer, and TPM Manager. Also: Is Perplexity's Sonar really more 'factual' than its AI rivals? See for yourself Furthermore, OpenAI filed a trademark application on January 31 with the US Patent and Trademark Office that included descriptions of many hardware products, such as "User-programmable humanoid robots, not configured," and "Humanoid robots having communication and learning functions for assisting and entertaining people." The rapid developments in the AI space these past two years have made building humanoid robots all that much more tangible. As a result, we can expect a lot of progress to occur in the humanoid robot space within the near future, with the ultimate goal of making them safe and useful enough for everyone to use.

Apptronik, which makes humanoid robots, raises $350M as category heats up | TechCrunch

Apptronik, a University of Texas spin-out that was quietly building humanoid robots before it became quite so fashionable, on Thursday announced a $350 million Series A round of financing. B Capital and Capital Factory co-led the round, which also featured participation from Google, whose DeepMind division is partnering with Apptronik to deliver embodied AI for bipedal robots. "What 2025 is about for Apptronik and the humanoid industry is really demonstrating useful work in these applications with these initial early adopters and customers," CEO Jeff Cardenas tells TechCrunch. "And then true commercialization and scaling happening in 2026 and beyond. That's what this raise is designed to do." The Austin-based startup had raised a relatively modest $28 million combined prior to this round. Cardenas says the previous goal was to generate more revenue than money raised - a goal he says the eight-year-old startup achieved during that time. That revenue came by way of pilot deals -- including with Mercedes and GXO Logistics -- and by selling robots outright. For now, however, the goal of generating more revenue than fundraising is going to have to go on-hold for a while. Apptronik's humanoid work dates all the way back to 2013, three years prior to its founding. It was then that members of the University of Austin at Texas's Human Centered Robotics Lab competed in the NASA-DARPA Robotics Challenge, an effort that centered around a humanoid robot called Valkyrie. Since then, the space agency has maintained a partnership with Apptronik as the company has readied its own generation of humanoids, including its current humanoid, Apollo. Cardenas points to that decade-plus of humanoid experience as a primary differentiator between Apptronik and competitors like Figure, 1X, and Tesla. Boston Dynamics and Agility Robotics have long histories, as well, but Apptronik is a seasoned veteran in the category compared to much of the competition. That history may explain why Google's DeepMind AI team has been working with Apptronik to build robot behavioral models. Their "strategic partnership" is similar in nature to others in the industry. Last week, Boston Dynamics announced a tie-up with The Robotics & AI institute. That followed a similar deal between the Spot-maker and Toyota Research Institute that's aimed at improving how robots learn. All are indicators of a much bigger trend, including OpenAI's multiple deals in the space. The ChatGPT-maker has invested in both 1X and Figure. Last August, Figure announced that it would further leverage OpenAI models to develop natural speech conversations for its own 02 robot, though last week, the outfit announced new plans; going forward, it will move all of its AI development in-house. "We found that to solve embodied AI at scale in the real world, you have to vertically integrate robot AI," Figure CEO Brett Adcock told TechCrunch last week. "We can't outsource AI for the same reason we can't outsource our hardware." Apptronik may ultimately make the same choice, but for now, a Google DeepMind partnership makes far more sense for the startup than the additional funding required to build bespoke humanoid AI models in-house. "We believe that right now, Google is at the top of the game, and building some of the best models in the world," Cardenas says. Scaling and production are the magic words for Apptronik's A round. Apptronik's current headcount is just north of 170 people, and it's planning a 50% increase over the next year. Still, Cardenas is pragmatic about timelines in a category that can be fast to overpromise and underdeliver. Cardenas tells TechCrunch that Apptronik has yet to move beyond the pilot stage with any of its partnerships. For all of the excitement around humanoids, it's still key for companies to take a measured approach to the category, addressing things like safety concerns and reliability prior to scaling the technology in a meaningful way. In the meantime, the company has a handful of ongoing pilots, including Mercedes, which makes for a natural choice. Automotive manufacturing has been the leading use case for these kinds of pilots, requiring tote moving and other manual tasks on the factory floor. Boston Dynamics has similarly been working with its parent company, Hyundai; Figure has deployed robots with BMW; and Tesla's Optimus will eventually get to work on the company's own EVs. Like many of its rivals, Apptronik is also looking for ways to put Apollo to work outside of factories and warehouses. The day could arrive when these robots come home to help with groceries, cook, fold laundry, and other tasks buyers might want to offload onto an automaton. Cardenas is even more excited about age tech as an important avenue for advanced robotics. As the population ages and more older adults prefer to live independently, humanoids could eventually help. "The holy grail for me is [age-tech]," says Cardenas. "As humans," he says he asks himself, "where could we apply this technology that improves the human condition?" The holy grail will have to wait, however. For now, Apptronik, like most humanoid manufacturers, is focused on industry. Factories and warehouses are a good first step, as corporations have the money and other resources required for pilots. Scaling manufacturing for these projects will continue to drive the price point down, but as it stands, the systems are far too expensive for the home - or even care facilities - to be a practical route. Apollo's target price is below $50,000, says Cardenas. But Apptronik isn't there yet. "We're in the window where the economics now make sense," says Cardenas. "And we know how to get to much more affordable systems."

Apptronik Raises $350 Million for 'Meaningful' Robot-Human Work Interactions | PYMNTS.com

The company's Series A round will also allow it to scale operations and expand its staff to meet what it said is a surge in demand for artificial intelligence-powered humanoid robots, according to a Thursday (Feb. 13) press release. "We're creating the world's most advanced and capable humanoid robots, designed to work alongside humans in meaningful and transformative ways," Apptronik CEO and co-founder Jeff Cardenas said in the release. "By uniting cutting-edge AI with hardware engineered for meaningful interaction, we're shaping a future where robots become true partners in driving progress. It's inspiring to have investors who believe in this vision and are committed to helping us bring it to life." The funding will allow Apptronik to scale manufacturing of Apollo units to fulfill growing orders from a range of industries, including automotive, electronics, third-party logistics, beverage bottling and fulfillment, and consumer packaged goods, per the release. In the last three years, the company has formed tech partnerships with NASA, Nvidia and the robotics team at Google's AI arm, DeepMind, the release said. Google participated in the funding round, which was led by B Capital and Capital Factory. Researchers from MIT, Yale and Harvard uncovered a paradox in AI training, which could be a breakthrough in accelerating intelligence in robots. They found that AI systems that learn in quiet environments can perform better than those trained in noisy, unpredictable conditions when deployed in the real world. "Surprisingly, we found that under certain conditions, training in a noise-free environment can lead to better performance when tested in a noisy environment," the research team wrote, with noise referring to uncertain factors encountered when interacting with the real world. Meanwhile, Serve Robotics CEO Ali Kashani told PYMMTS this month that he envisions a future where delivery robots can perform "reverse logistics" services, returning products for customers or bringing them clothes or shoes to try on. "There's a lot of other things we can do with these robots once they're out there," Kashani said. "They're making the cost of last mile substantially lowered."