Humanoid robotics startup Apptronik announced on Wednesday that it has completed a $520 million funding round with participation from investors including Alphabet and Mercedes-Benz. The company is focused on commercializing industrial-use robots.

According to informed sources, this funding round values the Austin, Texas-based company at approximately $5 billion. B Capital and the Qatar Investment Authority also participated in this Series A extension round, which comes about one year after Apptronik's previous $415 million funding round.

Apptronik plans to use the new capital to develop new versions of its Apollo robot, expand production capacity, and increase its workforce beyond the current 300-plus employees. The company also intends to establish a robot training and data collection facility in Austin and open an office in California.

Company CEO Jeff Carden stated that he expects increased deployment of humanoid robots in factories and warehouses during this year and next.

This funding round coincides with intensifying competition among companies developing industrial humanoid robots: both Tesla and NVIDIA-backed Figure AI are attempting large-scale manufacturing and deployment of humanoid robots, with the latter recently reaching a valuation of $39 billion.

Apptronik initially serves manufacturing and logistics clients and has established commercial partnerships with Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics. Long-term plans include expansion into assisted care and household applications.

The company's humanoid robot Apollo features both legs and wheels for mobility in industrial environments. Apptronik notes that human-sized robots can adapt to existing workstations and shelving, potentially replacing some specialized industrial equipment in the future.

The company is also deepening its collaboration with Google DeepMind, jointly developing artificial intelligence models for the Apollo platform based on Gemini. Carden mentioned that Apptronik provides hardware and real training data generated from actual robot deployments.

Founded in 2016 as a spin-off from the University of Texas, Apptronik's technology traces its origins to NASA's early Valkyrie humanoid robot project.

Howard Morgan, General Partner at B Capital, stated that the company possesses competitive advantages in robotic hand design and has built a substantial commercial order pipeline.

Morgan commented in an interview: "From a potential perspective, its valuation appears more attractive compared to some peers."