Humanoid robot maker Agility Robotics debuts on the Nasdaq after SPAC merger

Agility Robotics Inc. debuted on the Nasdaq today after merging with a special-purpose acquisition company.

SPAC deals provide a simpler path to public markets than a traditional listing. In such transactions, a shell company floats its shares and then merges with a privately held business. That business effectively takes the SPAC’s place on the stock exchange where it’s listed. 

Agility merged with an investment vehicle called Churchill Capital Corp XI Corp. on Wednesday. The deal and certain “related financings” together pulled in $465 million, a sum that excludes transaction fees. Agility will use the capital to bring its latest Digit 5 robot to market and add manufacturing capacity. 

Digit 5 (pictured) is a nearly six-foot-tall humanoid robot with a 20-hour battery life. It moves using custom actuators based on so-called cycloidal drive technology. That’s a motor design that trades off some speed for increased lifting power: Agility says that the Digit 5 can carry up to 50 pounds at a time.

The robot’s batteries are made by a British startup called Nyobolt Ltd. They use niobium, a metal most commonly found in superconductors and jewelry, to speed up charging. Agility says that the Digit 5 can be recharged in just nine minutes, a fraction of the time required by earlier technologies. 

The robot runs some of its software on Nvidia’s IGX Thor system-on-chip series. The most advanced chip in the lineup, the T7000, combines a 14-core central processing unit with a computer vision accelerator and two graphics processing units. One is an embedded GPU with 2,560 cores while the other is a standalone chip originally designed for workstations.

Digit 5 also makes use of Nvidia’s HALOS software toolkit. The suite includes algorithms that help robots avoid hazards. Additionally, HALOS provides resources that make it easier to secure the safety certifications required for commercial deployment.

Agility says that it has received more than $300 million worth of pre-orders for Digit 5. Its customers include Toyota Motor Co. and GXO Logistics Inc., a publicly traded transportation company. Agility claims that it also has three other large customers in the manufacturing sector along with a pipeline of more than 30 prospects.

“Digit is doing real work in customer operations today, taking on repetitive, physically demanding tasks,” said Agility Chief Executive Officer Peggy Johnson. “Becoming a public company gives us access to more resources to help accelerate that progress, bring intelligent robots to more workplaces and help build a future where people and robots accomplish more together.”

Agility plans to make Digit 5 available through an early access program in the first half of 2027. General availability is slated for later that year. The company will manufacture Digit 5 at a  70,000-square-foot factory in Salem, Oregon with planned capacity of up to 10,000 robots per year.

Photo: Agility Robotics