en.Wedoany.com Reported - U.S. humanoid robot company Agility Robotics has announced plans to go public through a merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI, at a valuation of approximately $2.5 billion. The deal is expected to raise over $620 million in total proceeds, setting a record for the largest financing round in the history of humanoid robotics. This transaction will make Agility the first pure-play humanoid robot company to trade on public markets, giving retail investors direct access to the sector and disclosing its financials.
The humanoid robot market is currently flush with capital. Shenzhen-based startup AI2 Robotics raised approximately $735 million at a valuation of nearly $3 billion, Austin-headquartered Apptronik completed a $935 million funding round at a valuation exceeding $5.5 billion, and Figure AI closed a $1 billion Series C round at a $39 billion valuation. In contrast, Agility Robotics CEO Peggy Johnson has taken a cautious approach when discussing the company's listing plans. Founded in 2015 as a spin-off from Oregon State University and headquartered in Salem, the company manufactures bipedal humanoid robots for warehouses and factories. The transaction is subject to shareholder approval and review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and is expected to close later this year.
Johnson previously served as Executive Vice President of Business Development at Microsoft, where she helped orchestrate the $26 billion acquisition of LinkedIn, and later as CEO of augmented reality headset company Magic Leap. She declined to provide forward-looking financial guidance, the bill of materials for the Digit robot, and avoided speculative questions. When asked why the company chose a SPAC over private fundraising, Johnson said it stems from the first-mover advantage of being the first publicly listed humanoid robot company, calling it "an acceleration story and a timing story." The raised funds will be used to increase production at the company's 70,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Salem and fulfill its customer order pipeline. Regarding the reputation issues surrounding SPACs, Johnson expressed no concern, stating that "keeping our heads down, delivering one customer at a time, one robot at a time" is the strategy, and added that "our biggest competitor right now is ourselves."
Johnson revealed that Agility has secured over $300 million in confirmed multi-year revenue, corresponding to approximately 1,000 robots, under a robot-as-a-service model where customers pay monthly fees rather than purchasing the robots outright. "Every customer has been vetted, and they all have deployment plans after proof of concept," Johnson said. Customers include GXO Logistics, Amazon, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Schaeffler, and Mercado Libre.
The Digit robot stands approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds, designed specifically for moving heavy objects in human spaces. Its distinctive feature is a pair of backward-bending knees (dubbed "bird legs"), allowing it to reach from the floor to overhead shelves without colliding with them. The hands have two thumbs and two fingers, optimized for gripping heavy plastic totes, even when the contents shift during transport. Johnson said the company's founders were "not interested in biomimicry for the sake of biomimicry."
Agility uses large language models, including Claude and Gemini, to handle the semantic layer, translating instructions into robot behaviors. Johnson described a test where engineers scattered different types of trash on the floor and instructed Digit to clean up. The robot correctly assessed, sorted, and disposed of everything, including identifying bubble wrap as non-recyclable. On the physical layer, Agility believes its core advantage lies in the data and proprietary skills accumulated over more than a decade of real-world deployment, claiming to have "the largest data lake of actual robot operating data in real-world environments."
On safety, Agility must meet actual industrial safety certification requirements to operate within its customers' facilities. "You can't build a robot and then make it safe," Johnson said. "That would require a redesign. You have to have all safety components certified—the electrical system, all the parts, and the software that supports it all." In contrast, many of its competitors demonstrate robots in lab settings or videos. For context, in November last year, Figure AI's former head of product safety sued the company, alleging she was fired after raising concerns that the robot could shatter a human skull—claims that Figure disputes.
Regarding home applications, Johnson believes the timeline is "over 10 years," as warehouses and factories have fixed aisles and predictable workflows, while home environments are more chaotic with dogs, babies, visitors, and unexpected items. "At least roads have some rules," Johnson compared the challenge to autonomous vehicles, "but most areas where humanoid robots will operate do not." Agility is currently focused on the warehouse market, where an increasing number of workers are retiring and young people are reluctant to take on physical labor, resulting in "over a million job vacancies."
