Apptronik

Apptronik is an Austin, Texas-based humanoid robotics company founded in 2016 as a spinout from the University of Texas at Austin's Human Centered Robotics Lab, whose founding team had previously worked on NASA's Valkyrie humanoid robot and the DARPA Robotics Challenge. The company builds Apollo, a general-purpose humanoid robot designed for physically demanding warehouse, logistics, and manufacturing tasks such as case picking, trailer unloading, and machine tending.

Apptronik has announced commercial and pilot relationships with Mercedes-Benz, GXO Logistics, and contract manufacturer Jabil, and has also partnered with Google DeepMind on its Gemini Robotics vision-language-action models. The company closed an oversubscribed $415 million Series A in 2025 led by B Capital and Capital Factory with participation from Google and Mercedes-Benz.

In February 2026, Apptronik extended that Series A with a $520 million Series A-X tranche led by existing backers alongside new investors AT&T Ventures, John Deere, and the Qatar Investment Authority, bringing total Series A financing to more than $935 million at a post-money valuation reported at $5.3 billion (some outlets cited figures as high as $5.5 billion for the same round). As of September 2026, Apptronik remains privately held with no public listing, bankruptcy, or acquisition.