Apptronik powers ahead in humanoid race with $520M funding

AUSTIN: Humanoid robotics startup Apptronik raised $520 million on Wednesday in a Series A extension round at a $5 billion valuation, triple its initial Series A price, as the Austin-based company races Tesla’s Optimus and Chinese rivals to factory-floor deployment.

The round was co-led by B Capital and Google, with returning investors Mercedes-Benz and PEAK6 alongside new backers AT&T Ventures, John Deere, and Qatar Investment Authority. Total Series A funding now exceeds $935 million, bringing Apptronik’s all-time capital raised to nearly $1 billion.

CEO Jeff Cardenas said the company will use fresh capital to scale production of its Apollo humanoid robot, expand its Austin footprint, open a California office, and build robot training and data collection facilities. A new Apollo model is set to debut later in 2026. The company plans to hire at least 200 additional workers over the next year, adding to its current 300-person headcount.

Apollo robots are already deployed in live environments with Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics, performing warehouse and manufacturing tasks including trailer unloading, inventory sorting, and machine tending. Apptronik’s strategic partnership with Google DeepMind powers Apollo using Gemini Robotics AI models.

Cardenas frames humanoid versatility as the core commercial pitch: “one robot to do thousands of tasks, versus a thousand robots doing a single task.” B Capital Chair Howard Morgan forecasts $1 billion in Apollo demand within a few years.

The raise comes as VC funding for humanoid robotics surged 300% year-over-year. Key competitors include Tesla Optimus, which Elon Musk acknowledged remains in early R&D despite $20 billion in planned 2026 capex, along with China’s Unitree, Figure AI, Agility Robotics, and 1X.

Mass production and order fulfillment is expected to begin in 2027.