ApptronikApptronik
LatestSeries A add-on ($520M, Feb 2026, $935M cumulative); reported nearly $1B in Jun 2026 (Mercedes-Benz participating, to be confirmed)
~$5B (after the Series A add-on in Feb 2026, per CNBC)
Apptronik, Inc.
A UT Austin-incubated industrial humanoid company; Apollo already in pilots at Mercedes-Benz, Jabil, and GXO; raised over $1B within a year at a valuation of about $5B; co-developing Gemini Robotics with Google DeepMind
数据截至2026-08-24
About
Apptronik was incubated in 2016 out of the Human-Centered Robotics Lab (HCRL) at the University of Texas at Austin; the team worked on NASA's Valkyrie humanoid. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it aims to build general-purpose robots for labor-short industrial scenarios. The flagship Apollo was unveiled in October 2023: about 1.7-1.73m tall, roughly 72.5-73kg, ~25kg max payload, ~4-hour runtime (swappable battery), and 32-36 DoF, for parts sorting and handling in logistics and manufacturing. Commercialization follows a flagship-customer pilot plus contract-manufacturing path: Mercedes-Benz has deployed multiple Apollo units in vehicle assembly pilots; GXO logistics and Jabil factories are testing, and Jabil will take over production build-out if commercially validated; it has an AI partnership with Google DeepMind (Apollo used in Gemini Robotics-related work) and also cooperates with NVIDIA. Funding: a $350M Series A in February 2025 (co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory with Google participating, at a ~$1-1.5B valuation); an oversubscribed $520M add-on in February 2026 (Series A total $935M, ~$5B valuation); and in June 2026 a reported nearly $1B round with Mercedes-Benz participating - over $1B raised within a year. On production, the company says it will start Apollo mass production and expand commercial deployment in 2026.
Technical Approach
An industry-first route: validate deterministic tasks like material handling at flagship customers (Mercedes-Benz, Jabil, GXO) first, then scale up via Jabil's manufacturing and supply chain capabilities, externalizing the cost and delivery risk of self-built robots; on AI, it co-develops with Google DeepMind (Gemini Robotics integrated with Apollo), stacking actuator and full-system engineering accumulated since the NASA Valkyrie era; CEO Cardenas stresses winning industrial customers' trust with safety, deployability, and affordability.
Commercialization（4）
- Mercedes-Benz has deployed multiple Apollo units in assembly pilots; also testing at GXO logistics and Jabil factories
- Signed with Jabil: Jabil will take over Apollo production build-out after commercial validation
- Partnering with Google DeepMind; Apollo used in Gemini Robotics-related work
- Over $1B raised within a year from investors including B Capital, Capital Factory, Google, and Mercedes-Benz
Position & Strengths（4）
- Actuator and full-system engineering pedigree from UT Austin/NASA Valkyrie, validated for industrial reliability
- A commercial validation matrix of three flagship customer types: Mercedes-Benz, Jabil, GXO
- Jabil contract manufacturing de-risks the production ramp; Google DeepMind provides AI model synergy
- A valuation of about $5B, making it one of the best-funded startups in US industrial humanoids