Apptronik’s Series A hits $935M

Austin-based humanoid startup Apptronik stretched its Series A to a staggering $935M, pushing the University of Texas spinout to a roughly $5.5B post-money valuation about triple where it stood a year ago.

The company says it wasn't actively fundraising, just fielding inbound interest it couldn't turn down; backers include Google, Mercedes-Benz, and B Capital.

CEO Jeff Cardenas said the company will use the funding to expand its Austin office, open a new location in California, and scale production of its robots.

Apptronik’s Apollo is being developed for work in logistics and manufacturing, including pilots with Google DeepMind, Mercedes-Benz, and GXO.

The company traces its lineage to UT’s Human Centered Robotics Lab and NASA’s Valkyrie program, with a decade-plus of experience in bipedal robotics.