Apptronik

Executive summary
‍

Apptronik, a leader in AI-powered humanoid robotics, recently closed a $403 million Series A round, empowered by partnerships with Google DeepMind and Mercedes-Benz to deploy Apollo, a versatile, modular humanoid robot. The company offers an attractive risk-reward profile with substantial upside potential in the multi-trillion-dollar physical labor market.
‍

Overview

‍

Apptronik, founded in 2016, is a leader in AI-powered humanoid robotics, originating from the University of Texas at Austin's Human Centered Robotics Lab, with roots tracing back to the 2013 NASA-DARPA Robotics Challenge, where the team worked on the Valkyrie robot.

‍

Their flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is designed to collaborate seamlessly with humans in industries such as warehousing and manufacturing, with future expansion into construction and healthcare. Apollo’s human-like form allows it to navigate and operate efficiently in environments built for people, powered by advanced mobility and AI-driven interaction.

‍

Its modular, versatile build supports swappable parts for task-specific optimization and deployment as bipedal, wheeled, or stationary units. Hot-swappable batteries (4-hour duration each) will enable up to 22 hours of daily operation. Apptronik partners with Google DeepMind to power Apollo’s Emboddied AI.

‍

In February 2025, Apptronik closed an oversubscribed $403 million Series A round, led by B Capital and Capital Factory, and included Google, Mercedes-Benz, Japan Post Capital, ARK Invest, Helium-3, Magnetar, and RyderVentures, surpassing its initial $350 million target.

‍

Strategic Rationale
‍

The humanoid robotics market represents the most transformative opportunity of the next five years, surpassing even digital AI, due to its ability to address the global labor crisis while revolutionizing every major industry. Unlike digital AI, humanoid robots deliver physical labor, making them indispensable as workforce demographics shift and labor shortage persists.

‍

Apptronik is among a few leaders in humanoid robots in the U.S. with Figure AI and Tesla. Figure AI’s valuation has soared to $39.5 billion, while Apptronik, at $2.3 billion post its $403 million Series A, provides an interesting risk-reward profile.

‍

Though early-stage and high-risk, Apptronik presents a rare chance for an outsized return if it captures even a few percent of the multi-trillion-dollar labor replacement market, projected to grow as demand for humanoid robots accelerates.

‍

We believe the industry is now transitioning from research and prototyping into early-stage commercial deployment, with pilots already underway across logistics and manufacturing. This inflection point presents a rare opportunity to gain early exposure before broad adoption and market consolidation reshape the landscape.
‍

Share Class
‍

The DAO holds preferred equity in Apptronik, offering key investor rights such as a 1x non-participating liquidation preference, standard conversion to common stock, broad-based weighted average anti-dilution protection, and pro rata participation in future funding rounds.

‍

This share class provides downside protection and long-term equity exposure.
‍

Potential Liquidation Events
‍

Given the explosive growth trajectory that we expect for humanoid robotics, we expect Apptronik will pursue one of two paths by 2030:
‍

1. Initial Public Offering (IPO): Apptronik is well-positioned for public market entry as investor appetite for robotics companies grows.
2. Strategic Acquisition: Firms like Google or Amazon could acquire Apptronik to accelerate their automation efforts.

Although no specific liquidity event is guaranteed, Apptronik’s positioning and backers make one of these paths plausible within 2–5 years.
‍

Early Liquidity Outlook:

Limited secondary liquidity may be available after a 12-month holding period, depending on share class and market conditions. Any decision to partially or fully liquidate the position would be subject to community deliberation and a formal on-chain governance vote, in accordance with DAO procedures.

‍

Key Risks & Considerations
‍

While humanoid robotics presents extraordinary potential, there are still material risks:
‍

• Execution Risk: Successfully scaling complex hardware and AI systems (manufacturing, reliability, cost control) remains a massive challenge, even for well-funded teams.
• Competition: Tesla, Figure AI bring vast resources and talent and will be competitors in the exact same initial industries (manufacturing, logistics). However, we believe the market is sufficiently large to support multiple winners, with competition preventing monopolistic pricing.
• Regulatory & Adoption Hurdles: The most unpredictable risk and also the most likely to be the factor slowing down the industry. Despite acute labor shortages, public resistance to job displacement or safety incidents could delay mass deployment by pressuring regulatory bodies.

Despite these risks, the asymmetric upside and strategic fit makes this allocation a well-considered and mission-aligned decision for the XMAQUINA DAO.

‍