Google-Backed Apptronik in Talks to Raise Funding at $5 Billion Valuation
The Takeaway
- Apptronik in talks to raise $400 million at $5 billion valuation
- Google DeepMind supplies AI to power Apptronik’s Apollo robots
- Apollo robots work in Mercedes-Benz, GXO and Jabil facilities
Apptronik, a humanoid robot maker backed by Google, is in the process of raising at least $400 million at a $5 billion valuation not including the new money, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
The new round, led by B Capital, would at least triple the startup’s valuation from earlier this year, when it raised $415 million from investors including Austin’s Capital Factory and venture firm B Capital. Google will invest in the latest round, too, according to those people. Apptronik is developing Apollo: a two-legged, two-armed robot. Late last year, the company said Google would start supplying AI from its DeepMind lab to power the robots.
The high valuation for the nine-year-old startup speaks to growing optimism that humanoid robots will soon be capable enough to take on most physical jobs humans do. Just last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that the car maker’s Optimus robots would eventually provide medical care, fight crime and end poverty.
Other large tech companies and entrepreneurs are working on their own humanoids. Chinese electric car maker Xpeng last week showed off the latest version of its own humanoids, which it expects to initially serve in positions such as as company office receptionists and sales assistants. Robotics startup Figure AI last month announced the third generation of its humanoid robot, with a video of the robot performing household chores. And Andy Rubin, a creator of Android, has recently launched a startup focused on humanoid robotics.
Proponents of humanoids argue that they are well suited to eventually take on the wide variety of physical tasks people perform, especially because people have designed the environment around the human body. But their makers face myriad challenges, including mimicking the complex mechanics of a human hand. Due to those challenges, Musk this summer abandoned earlier targets to make thousands of Optimus robots this year.
Apptronik was founded by Jeff Cardenas and Nick Paine, who earned graduate degrees at the University of Texas, Austin, along with engineering professor Luis Sentis, who leads the school’s Human Centered Robotics Laboratory. Paine had previously worked on NASA’s robot entry in the 2015 Darpa Robotics Challenge, a high-profile competition that tested the abilities of humanoid robots to complete disaster-response tasks.
The company initially developed a variety of robots, including stationary torsos and robots on wheeled bases for other robotics makers and large companies, including automakers and government agencies such as NASA. Then, in 2023, it unveiled Apollo, a humanoid intended for mass production.
The robot is working in factories for Mercedes-Benz, also an investor in the startup. Apollo is also working in warehouses for logistics company GXO and factories for manufacturing company Jabil, which also manufactures parts for the robot. All three companies are customers. Apptronik’s recent revenue couldn’t be learned.
With the new funding, Apptronik will have raised over $850 million in total. The founders initially bootstrapped the company with sales of its earlier versions of its robots. Then over the last three years, Tesla began showing off new versions of its Optimus robot, raising the pressure on robotics startups to raise money to pay for hardware, researchers and AI development.
Since Apptronik partnered with Google, it has focused on building the hardware for Apollo and the software to operate the robot, while Google has focused on developing the AI models that will serve as the brain for the robot.
Apptronik is also working with other companies as it tackles challenges such as humanoid hands. It has equipped Apollo with hands from Psyonic, a startup that also develops prosthetic hands for humans. Those hands are also visible in videos that Apptronik released to announce its collaboration with Google DeepMind earlier this year.