There’s been a lot of noise in the humanoid robotics space lately, but [Apptronik](https://apptronik.com/) just did something that made me sit up straight. On February 11, 2026, the Austin-based startup announced a $520 million extension round, bringing its total Series A to over $935 million — at a valuation north of $5 billion. That’s not hype money. That’s “we’re actually building this thing” money.
The round was co-led by B Capital and Google, with some heavy new names joining the cap table: AT&T Ventures, John Deere, and the Qatar Investment Authority. Mercedes-Benz, already a partner, came back for more. When you see John Deere — a company that knows a thing or two about automation in the real world — writing checks, it tells you something about where Apollo is headed.
And Apollo is the robot worth watching here. It stands about 6 feet tall, lifts up to 55 pounds, and can run 22 hours a day. Right now, early units are being tested in [Mercedes-Benz manufacturing facilities](https://apptronik.com/news-collection/apptronik-and-mercedes-benz-enter-commercial-agreement) and [GXO Logistics warehouses](https://www.therobotreport.com/gxo-logistics-apptronik-test-apollo-humanoid-robot-warehouse/), doing things like delivering assembly kits and inspecting components. Not flashy demo reel stuff — actual grunt work in actual factories.
What really caught my eye is the [Google DeepMind partnership](https://apptronik.com/news-collection/apptronik-partners-with-google-deepmind-robotics). Apptronik is integrating Gemini Robotics models to power Apollo’s perception and task execution. Having Google’s AI muscle behind the hardware is a serious advantage, and it explains why Google is both an investor and a technical partner here.
The story blew up across [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/apptronik-raises-520-million-at-5-billion-valuation-for-apollo-robot.html), [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/11/humanoid-robot-startup-apptronik-has-now-raised-935m-at-a-5b-valuation/), and [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-11/apptronik-raises-520-million-in-new-funding-to-build-more-humanoids) simultaneously, which doesn’t happen unless the industry is taking it seriously. CEO Jeff Cardenas, who spun the company out of UT Austin’s Human Centered Robotics Lab back in 2016, has been quietly building for years. The team has shipped 15 robotic systems before Apollo, including work on NASA’s Valkyrie robot. This isn’t their first rodeo.
A next-gen Apollo platform is expected to debut later this year, with commercial orders targeted for 2027 and reportedly $1 billion in projected demand already lined up. If you’ve been on the [Hacker News thread](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37272340) about them, you know the developer community is curious too. Whether or not humanoid robots become as common as the hype suggests, Apptronik is making a very concrete, very well-funded bet that they will — and they’re not waiting around for anyone else to go first.
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