Agility Robotics to Go Public via SPAC Merger Valued at $2.5 Billion

Agility Robotics announced plans to go public through a merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI, a special purpose acquisition company, in a transaction that values the company at around $2.5 billion and is expected to raise more than $620 million in gross proceeds, @techcrunch reported.

The deal represents the largest capital raise in humanoid robotics history. It has not closed and still requires shareholder approval and SEC review, with completion expected later this year.

Agility was founded in 2015 as a spinoff from Oregon State University and is based in Salem, Oregon. The company makes bipedal humanoid robots designed to work in warehouses and factories. It operates a 70,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Salem and has more than $300 million in booked multi-year revenue representing roughly 1,000 robots under a robots-as-a-service model.

Customers include GXO Logistics, Amazon, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Schaeffler, and Mercado Libre. The flagship robot Digit stands about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs around 160 pounds. It features reverse-bend knees that allow it to reach from floor level to overhead shelving and hands with two thumbs and two fingers optimized for gripping heavy plastic totes.

CEO Peggy Johnson, formerly executive vice president of business development at Microsoft and later CEO of Magic Leap, said the company is LLM-agnostic and draws on models including Claude and Gemini. In a recent test, Digit assessed, sorted, and binned different types of trash correctly, including identifying bubble wrap as non-recyclable.

Johnson stated Agility may have the largest data lake of actual operating robotics data in real-world environments.