SoftBank and Nvidia back Munich's Agile Robots at an $8.5B valuation in a $500M Series F
What's the deal? Munich-based Agile Robots has closed a $500 million Series F at an $8.5 billion valuation, the company said on 12 November. SoftBank GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the round, with Nvidia, Hitachi Group (HitachiDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Hitachi VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →) and T.CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → taking part. Total funding is now about $2 billion.
Who are they? Founded in 2018 as a spinout from the German Aerospace Center (DLR)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → by chief executive Zhaopeng ChenDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Agile Robots builds humanoid and mobile robots, robotic arms and hands, and the AI software behind them. It says more than 20,000 of its systems are installed with customers in automotive, electronics, healthcare and logistics; Reuters reports that it employs more than 2,000 R&D specialists and holds over 650 patents.
Where's the money going? Expansion in the US, entry into new markets and more production capacity, including in Germany. Its factory in Fürstenfeldbruck near Munich, opened earlier this year, can build up to 10,000 legged and wheeled humanoids a year; The Next Web reports that the company expects to make about 2,000 units in 2026. Chen told The New York Times the round puts Agile in a stronger position to consider a future IPO, according to The Next Web.
The numbers: The round is smaller than the roughly $800 million that was under discussion in June, Bloomberg reported, but the valuation tops the roughly $7 billion that Neura Robotics reached in June. The company says no privately held European robotics firm is worth more. SoftBank also led Agile's $220 million Series C in 2021.
Why it matters: Europe's physical-AI race now has two German contenders valued above $7 billion, both drawing Asian and US strategic money, alongside fast-growing peers such as Sereact and London's Humanoid. Turning installed industrial robots into humanoids built at volume is still unproven at scale, and the valuation prices in that shift.
Sources: Agile Robots
Reuters via CNA
AFP via France 24
The Next Web
Quartz
Image credit: Agile Robots
