Agile Robots raises $500 million to expand humanoid production

Agile Robots said on November 12 that it closed a $500 million Series F funding round led by SoftBank Group, valuing the German robotics company at $8.5 billion. NVIDIA, Hitachi Group and T.Capital also participated. The Munich-based company plans to use the money to expand production capacity, including in Germany, build up its US business and enter new markets.

Agile says its plant in Fürstenfeldbruck, near Munich, can make up to 10,000 wheeled and legged humanoid robots a year. That figure describes what the facility can build. A separate figure, more than 20,000 installations worldwide, covers the company's industrial robotics solutions across its product lines. The funding announcement did not break out the number of humanoids produced or shipped.

A second German site for larger machines

Agile already built robotic arms and collaborative robots in Kaufbeuren. Humanoids added more parts and needed more room for assembly, so the company opened a second site in Germany. It chose a location about 25 kilometers from its headquarters and research teams in Munich. In its account of the factory, Agile says the short distance allows engineers to work directly with assembly teams while the designs are still changing.

The company says production at Fürstenfeldbruck began in January and the line entered series production by late summer. Automated stations build arms and torsos and run tests. Workers assemble the hands and perform the final build. Agile says a robot spends three to four days moving through the factory from its first station to completion. Mobile robots made at the same site carry parts between stations. Agile says it records those trips so it can use the data to improve later machines.

Agile's September factory report said most of the humanoids it was shipping then were wheeled. Both designs are built at the site. The company said certification already allowed its wheeled platforms into customers' plants. Its November announcement describes capacity for both types and gives no details of a new production site in the United States.

Audi is testing how robots put parts in order

One example of the work Agile is pursuing is at Audi's Production Lab in Ingolstadt. The companies announced a proof of concept in October with Dassault Systèmes and NVIDIA. The task is to take parts from containers and place them in the order needed for final vehicle assembly. The trial covers items of different shapes and orientations, including mixed parts in one container and flexible pieces that call for two-handed handling.

Audi's supply-chain staff define the conditions for the test. The partners are recreating the logistics area digitally to assess whether the robot can carry out the work and to examine timing, ergonomics and safety. Audi's Production Lab provides a place to try the task with physical equipment. The project announcement gave no deployment schedule for the wider assembly operation or measured performance from the trial.

Hitachi had already announced a joint development agreement with Agile in September. It said it planned to combine knowledge from industrial operations with Agile's robotics technology and make the resulting systems available to manufacturing customers. Agile's financing announcement identifies both Hitachi and Hitachi Ventures as participants through Hitachi Group.

A research model is due in early 2027

NVIDIA had previously announced its work with Agile on the Agile ONE SN, a humanoid platform for research. The system combines the robot with onboard computing and tools for collecting demonstrations, running simulations and checking how a trained system behaves on physical equipment. It was announced separately from the Audi trial.

Agile said the latest round brings total funding to $2 billion. Its earlier product announcement lists early 2027 as the target for making the Agile ONE SN available.