SoftBank, Nvidia back Germany's Agile Robots at $8.5 billion valuation

Nov 12 (Reuters) - Agile Robots has raised $500 million in a funding round led by SoftBank, valuing the German robotics company at $8.5 billion, it said on Thursday. Nvidia and Hitachi also took part.

The Munich-based maker of humanoid robots and robotic arms said it would use the money to expand in the US and add production capacity, including in Germany.

Earlier in 2026, Agile Robots opened a factory in Fürstenfeldbruck, near Munich, to meet what it described as rapidly rising demand. The site can produce up to 10,000 legged and wheeled humanoid robots a year, the company said.

Founded in 2018 as a spin-off from the German Aerospace Center, Agile Robots employs more than 2,000 research and development specialists and holds over 650 patents.

(1 euro = $1.1078)

(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)