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The investment company ARK Invest participated in a significant fundraising of 403 million dollars in favor of Apptronik, a Texas-based company specializing in the development of humanoid robots.
This Series A funding round saw the participation of Mercedes-Benz, Google, and Japan Post Capital, among other prominent investors.
An injection of capital for innovation in Apptronik’s robotics thanks to ARK Invest
On March 18, 2024, Apptronik officially announced the closing of its Series A round, which exceeded initial expectations.
The total collection has reached 403 million dollars, surpassing the 350 million dollars made public in February with an addition of 53 million dollars.
Thanks to the entry into the capital of Apptronik, ARK Invest now offers its investors the opportunity to access the startup through the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX), a fund oriented towards disruptive innovation.
The company promoted this opportunity through a post on the X platform, encouraging investors to join the initiative via SoFi, a trading app.
The first funding of 350 million dollars raised by Apptronik was led by two major venture capital firms: B Capital, based in California, and Capital Factory, based in Texas. This initial round had already attracted the interest of Google.
The latest capital increase has brought new players into the project, including the automotive giant Mercedes-Benz, the technology investor Japan Post Capital, and RyderVentures, the venture capital division of the logistics company Ryder System.
A union led by Korea Investment Partners has also joined the financing, demonstrating a growing interest in the humanoid robotics sector.
The fact that the funding has exceeded the initial target reflects a growing demand in the market and a strong investor confidence in the potential of the so-called intelligenza artificiale incarnata.
This concept refers to the integration of AI in physical systems, allowing robots to perform complex tasks autonomously or collaboratively with humans.
Founded in 2016, Apptronik was born as a spin-off of the robotics laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin.
The company has developed 15 different robotic systems, including the well-known NASA Valkyrie, before introducing Apollo, a humanoid robot with artificial intelligence designed for industrial applications.
An evolution of the relationship between man and machine
Apptronik emphasizes a collaborative vision between people and robots. On its website, the company states:
“We do not believe in a competition between man and machine, but in a collaboration that will lead humanity to the next evolutionary phase.”
The roots of Apptronik’s research date back to 2013, when the Human-Centered Robotics Lab at the University of Texas at Austin participated in the NASA-DARPA Robotics Challenge, developing the Valkyrie project.
Today the company also collaborates with Google’s AI division, DeepMind, to improve the integration of artificial intelligence in bipedal robots.
The entry of ARK Invest into Apptronik confirms the strong interest of the company led by Cathie Wood towards emerging technologies. The name ARK itself, in fact, is the acronym of “Active Research Knowledge“, demonstrating the mission to support cutting-edge solutions.
In addition to robotics, ARK Invest has supported various artificial intelligence platforms, including Anthropic, OpenAI and Groq.
In October 2024, ARK announced a minimum investment of 250 million dollars in OpenAI’s funding round, making the AI company the third largest asset of the ARK Venture Fund, with a weight of 5% of the total investments.
As of February 28, 2024, the main asset of the fund was Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which held about 16% of the total value of the ARK portfolio.
A future dominated by humanoid robotics?
The substantial amount raised by Apptronik suggests that more and more companies are focusing on intelligent robotics to revolutionize sectors such as logistics, industrial production, and automation.
With partners like Google, Mercedes-Benz, and DeepMind, the future of humanoid robots seems increasingly close to reality.
English (US) ·