Watching · Mercedes-Benz · Google DeepMind · ~USD 5B valuation

Apptronik

The Texas maker of the Apollo humanoid — pilots at Mercedes-Benz in Germany and Hungary, Google DeepMind partner.

USA (Austin) · 2016 · Industrial humanoid robot

About Apptronik

Apptronik is based in Austin, Texas and was founded in 2016 out of the Human Centered Robotics Lab at the University of Texas (CEO Jeff Cardenas, CTO Nick Paine); its heritage includes work on NASA's Valkyrie robot. Until 2025 it had raised only USD 28M, then a USD 415M Series A and a USD 520M Series A-X (February 2026) at a valuation of about USD 5B — investors are B Capital, Capital Factory, Google, Mercedes-Benz, PEAK6, AT&T Ventures, John Deere and Qatar Investment Authority.

Apollo was unveiled on 23 August 2023 (173 cm, 73 kg, 25 kg payload, 4 h on swappable batteries). Pilots: Mercedes-Benz (since March 2024, Berlin-Marienfelde and Kecskemét), GXO (2024), Jabil (2025). Apollo 2 (June 2026) added a wheeled configuration, the Artemis and Fleet Connect software and Google DeepMind's Gemini Robotics models; Robot Park for data collection opened in Austin.

The robot is not for sale — Apollo 3 is to be the first fully commercial product, with no announced date; the maker has not published second-generation specifications.

For ROBOTio, Apptronik is interesting for its European pilots at Mercedes-Benz, the closest to Czechia of any American humanoid. We watch when it opens a commercial programme; at events we deploy the Unitree G1 and H2.

Apptronik models at ROBOTio

  • Apptronik Apollo 2 — Industrial humanoid: 173 cm, 73 kg, 25 kg payload, 4 h swappable batteries, legs or wheels, Gemini Robotics. Pilots only.

Who Apptronik makes sense for

Automotive

Mercedes-Benz — Berlin-Marienfelde and Kecskemét.

Logistics

GXO — a multi-phase pilot programme.

Manufacturing

Jabil — manufacturing partner and factory pilot.

Availability & service in Europe

  • Partner pilots in the USA, Germany and Hungary
  • Sales — only with Apollo 3, no date
  • Apollo 2 specifications — not published
  • Price — not published
  • For an industrial pilot in 2027 we prepare a comparison of Apollo with Digit, Walker S2 and AgiBot G2.
  • For automotive events we deliver a humanoid from our fleet, including a variant with the Tesla Cybertruck.

Service and support status on ServisRobot.cz — The overview shows which models we service and to what extent.

Official website