Apptronik raises $350 million to build humanoids

Apptronik’s Apollo humanoid works on an automobile at a Mercedes-Benz factory. | Credit: Apptronik

Apptronik has raised $350 million in Series A funding to scale its Apollo humanoid robot. The funding was co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory, with participation from Google.

Apptronik has raised $378 million since it was founded in 2016 at the University of Texas at Austin’s Human Centered Robotics Lab. Apptronik co-founder and CEO Jeff Cardenas said the new funding will allow the company to accelerate the development of its next-generation Apollo humanoid. Apptronik has agreements with industry leaders Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics to test Apollo in real-world applications.

Cardenas said humanoids will eventually find their way into the home and healthcare environments. However, he said the best place to start deploying humanoids is logistics and manufacturing use cases — structured environments where the interactions between humans and robots can be safely controlled.

The $350 million is the latest in a plethora of funding that has poured into companies working on humanoids. Figure AI has raised $854 million, including a monstrous $675 million Series B round in February 2024. Agility Robotics has raised at least $178 million. It’s important to note the financial details of Agility’s recent investment from Schaeffler has yet to be disclosed. 1X Technologies has raised $136.5 million, including a $100 million Series B round.

Apptronik won an RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award in 2024 for its bespoke linear actuators. The company plans to continue to build a vertically integrated solution to optimize performance and cost as it scales.

The Series A funding follows three years of record growth for Apptronik, Cardenas said. In 2022, Apptronik joined forces with NASA to advance humanoids following early work to help build the NASA Valkyrie Robot. Last year, Apptronik worked with NVIDIA to show dexterous manipulation.

Engagement with Google Deepmind

Google’s participation in the Series A appears to strengthen an already strong relationship. Apptronik in late 2024 announced a partnership with Google DeepMind. The partnership will combine AI with robotics hardware, attempting to make Apollo more skillful. Cardenas said the goal is to bring the best teams in robotics together to solve some of the industry’s most difficult technical problems.

One of those challenges is generating training data for its humanoids. Cardenas said Apptronik will use a variety of approaches, including physical teleoperation and simulation, to gather data for mobility, locomotion, fine manipulation and other skills. He said Apptronik will scale up its data collection efforts using a portion of the Series A funding.

He described plans to build a “data factory” in Austin, affectionately referred to as “Robot Park.” He said this will enable Apptronik to work across different applications and customers to ramp up data collection. The goal is to create a “data flywheel” where they get physical robots out into the world, collect data from customer applications, and then use that data to train new models and policies. China has launched a similar effort to accelerate humanoid development.

Texas proud

The Apptronik Series A round includes many native-Texas inventors proud of the heritage of the company. | Credit: Apptronik

One of the underlying stories about the Series A, Cardenas said, is the participation of Texas-based Capital Factory. Capital Factory provides mentorship, coworking spaces, and private offices for entrepreneurs. It is also one of the leading funders of young tech companies in the Lone Star State. Capital Factory assembled a large contingent of Texas-native families to contribute to the Apptronik funding. This includes families that generated their wealth through oil and gas and are now looking for solid high-tech, Texas-based companies to invest in. 

“[Capital Factory] has become the epicenter of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Texas,” Cardenas told The Robot Report. “When I was first coming up in college, there was one venture capital firm in Austin: Austin Ventures. Capital Factory has been a big driving force [of this growth]. Austin is an up-and-coming innovation region in the U.S.”

Gordon Daugherty is chairman of Capital Factory and the first outside board director of Apptronik. He said  Apptronik is 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.”

Apollo is expected to be deployed into logistics applications. | Credit: Apptronik

“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.”

Learn about humanoids at Robotics Summit & Expo

Humanoids will be front and center at the Robotics Summit & Expo, which runs April 30-May 1 in Boston and is produced by The Robot Report. Aaron Saunders, CTO of Boston Dynamics, is giving the opening keynote on Day 2 of the event. He will discuss the recently redesigned Atlas robot and share his thoughts about the future humanoids.

The first day of the show will feature a panel about the state of humanoids with Pras Velagapudi, CTO at Agility Robotics, Aaron Prather, director of robotics and autonomous systems at ASTM International, and Al Makke, director of engineering at Schaeffler. The panel will explore the technical and business challenges shaping the development of humanoids. It will also share insights from early deployments, what’s on the horizon, and the ongoing efforts to establish safety standards.

The Robotics Summit & Expo brings together 5,000+ developers focused on building robots for a variety of commercial industries. Attendees will gain insights into the latest enabling technologies, engineering best practices, and emerging trends. There will be 200+ exhibitors, 60-plus speakers on stage, 10+ hours of dedicated networking time, a Women in Robotics Breakfast, a career fair, startup showcase, and more. Returning to the show is the RBR50 Pavilion and RBR50 Awards Dinner that will honor the winners of the annual RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards.

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