The Humanoid Robot Wars: Apptronik Raises $350M With Google Onboard
The race for humanoid robots is heating up, with tech giants like Google eager to claim a stake.
Apptronik, a leading player in the field, has secured $350 million in Series A funding, led by B Capital and Capital Factory. Notably, Google's parent company, Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), participated in the round.
Apptronik's previous funding round amounted to $28 million. The company declined to disclose its valuation post-capital raise.
According to CEO Jeff Cardenas, the funds will accelerate production and deploy Apptronik's humanoid robots in commercial settings. The company's "Apollo" robot, equipped with Nvidia's (NVDA) GPUs, is designed for industrial and manufacturing applications.
Apptronik has already inked partnerships with GXO Logistics (GXO) and Mercedes-Benz (MBG). In the future, Cardenas aims to expand into healthcare and eldercare.
Elon Musk's frequent promotion of Tesla's (TSLA) Optimus humanoid robot has highlighted the industry's potential. According to Citi research, there could be 648 million humanoids in circulation by 2050, creating a vast market opportunity.
The research firm estimates the total addressable market for humanoids could reach $209 billion by 2035 and $7 trillion by 2050. Key growth areas include parcel delivery, construction, food delivery, and home services.
Over 50 companies are actively developing humanoid robots, including Alfie (from Prosper Robotics) and Kime (from Macco Robotics).
"This has evolved from science fiction to development and is poised for a major breakthrough," said Rob Garlick, head of innovation, technology, and future of work at Citi Global Insights.