Agile Robots: closes USD 500 million Series F led by SoftBank Group at an USD 8.5 billion post-money valuation

NewTimeSpace News: Agile Robots SE, a Munich-headquartered robotics company known in Chinese as Siling Jiqiren (unlisted), has closed a USD 500 million Series F round at a post-money valuation of USD 8.5 billion, bringing total capital raised to about USD 2 billion. SoftBank Group led the round, with participation from NVIDIA, Hitachi Group (Hitachi and Hitachi Ventures) and T.Capital. The company did not disclose the equity structure, the split between new and existing investors, or the valuation method.

The company said proceeds will expand production capacity, deepen its position in key markets and accelerate development of new robotics applications, including a stronger US presence and additional capacity in Germany. Early in 2026 it opened a production site in Fürstenfeldbruck near Munich, with capacity for up to 10,000 legged and wheeled humanoid robots a year; the company's 10,000 figure refers to the capacity ceiling, not realised output or deliveries.

Founded in 2018 as a spin-off from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Agile Robots makes humanoid and mobile robots, robotic arms and hands, plus the software and AI models behind them. The company says it has deployed 20,000 industrial robotic solutions across automotive, consumer electronics and logistics customers, and employs more than 3,500 people from nearly 60 countries, including over 2,000 R&D staff, with more than 650 patent filings. Its subsidiaries include the research platform Franka Robotics and Krause Automation, acquired from thyssenkrupp.

On the product side, the company and NVIDIA unveiled the research-oriented humanoid Agile ONE SN at Nvidia's GTC event in Berlin on 21 October 2026; the robot stands 1.4 metres tall, weighs 40 kg and has 31 degrees of freedom, integrates the NVIDIA Isaac GR00T ecosystem with a preconfigured software stack, and is scheduled for launch in early 2027. At the same event, the company, Audi and Dassault Systèmes announced a joint project on parts sequencing for Audi's Ingolstadt plant. Founder and CEO Chen Zhaopeng said Physical AI will fundamentally change how the world builds, moves and makes things.