Agile Robots SE raised funds valuing the German robotics maker at $8.5 billion in a round led by SoftBank Group, Bloomberg reported on 12 November. The company raised $500 million, bringing its total funding to about $2 billion, Munich-based Agile said in a statement cited by Bloomberg; Nvidia, Hitachi and T.Capital also took part.
Founder Zhaopeng Chen told The New York Times that the company is expected to double sales this year to about 600 million euros, or $668 million. At $8.5 billion, the round values Agile Robots at 12.7 times that expected sales figure, by our arithmetic.
Business Pill · Physical AI Explained
An evergreen Business Engineer explainer on physical AI, when AI gets a body in robots and machines. It teaches the general idea only and does not discuss Agile Robots or this round.
The key insight: As we read it, the price rests on growth the founder expects rather than on reported results: $8.5 billion is 12.7 times the about $668 million of sales Chen told the Times the company is expected to reach this year, by our arithmetic.
Bloomberg wrote that the round gives the startup “fresh capital to expand production of its artificial intelligence-powered machines”. It named SoftBank Group as the lead and Nvidia, Hitachi and T.Capital as participants.
The German news agency dpa gave the same figures, $500 million (450 million euros) at an $8.5 billion valuation, and said the money is for entering the US market and developing new industrial applications. It said Hitachi invested through its investment company.
Agile Robots’ valuation marks: its Series C release of 10 September 2021 gave a valuation exceeding US$1 billion (a floor, drawn dashed); Bloomberg reported talks on a round of about $800 million on 2 June 2026, with no valuation; the SoftBank-led round of 12 November 2026 values the company at $8.5 billion (Bloomberg, dpa, The New York Times). The multiple of at most 8.5 times and the 1,889 days are our arithmetic.
What the Founder Said
Chen told the Times the investment will let Agile expand in the United States, increase production in Germany and move into new markets, ahead of a potential future initial public offering. The company is working with partners including Google DeepMind, the paper reported.
Agile has deployed close to 30,000 robotics systems, including 3,000 to 4,000 humanoids, Chen said. The Times reported that the round will let Agile advance plans to produce robots in the United States, potentially in Auburn Hills, Michigan, after acquiring assets of ThyssenKrupp Automation Engineering in Europe and North America.
“Physical A.I. is one of the solutions for Europe,” Chen told the paper. “In the new era of physical A.I., Europe stands a chance.”
The Numbers Behind the Price
By our arithmetic, the $500 million of new money equals 5.9% of the $8.5 billion valuation, and the roughly $2 billion raised since the company was founded equals 23.5% of it. The reports we read do not say whether $8.5 billion is the value before or after the new money.
In June, Bloomberg reported that Agile was in discussions to raise about $800 million, with SoftBank in talks to contribute more than $300 million, citing people familiar with the matter. The $500 million now announced is 62.5% of that figure, by our arithmetic. The reports we read do not give SoftBank’s share of the final round.
Agile’s release of 10 September 2021 on its Series C, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, called it a unicorn “with a valuation exceeding US$1 billion”. Because that mark was a floor, the new $8.5 billion is at most 8.5 times it, 1,889 days later, by our arithmetic.
On the factory side, dpa said a plant Agile opened early this year in Fürstenfeldbruck, near Munich, is designed to make up to 10,000 humanoid robots a year. By the company’s own account, dpa added, more than 20,000 automation solutions are in use worldwide, and Agile has over 3,500 employees at more than 25 sites.
Valuations The New York Times cited on 12 November 2026 when comparing Agile Robots with other European companies: Wayve, valued at $8.6 billion in February; Agile Robots, $8.5 billion in this round; Quantum Systems, $8 billion in July; Neura Robotics, about $7 billion. Figures as reported by the Times.
SoftBank’s Robotics Bet
Agile is not a new holding for SoftBank. In October, Bloomberg said Agile Robots was among about 20 investments transferred to Robo HD, the holding company Son set up for SoftBank’s robotics assets, as set out in our report on SoftBank weighing an Allied Universal deal. Bloomberg also listed the $5.4 billion purchase of ABB’s industrial robots unit among SoftBank’s latest deals.
As we read the round, the new money is a small slice of the price: $500 million is 5.9% of the $8.5 billion valuation, by our arithmetic, and 62.5% of the about $800 million that Bloomberg reported was under discussion in June.
As we read the capacity figures, the Fürstenfeldbruck plant that dpa describes, designed for up to 10,000 humanoid robots a year, is larger than the 3,000 to 4,000 humanoids Chen told the Times that Agile has deployed.
Zhaopeng Chen, founder of Agile Robots, to The New York Times, 12 November 2026
“Now I think people see China and they see the U.S., and they know if they don’t change, it’s a dead end”
Three Implications
FOR SOFTBANK Bloomberg names SoftBank Group as the lead of the round; in October, Bloomberg said Agile was among about 20 investments transferred to Robo HD.
FOR AGILE Chen told the Times the money will let it expand in the United States, increase production in Germany and move into new markets.
FOR EUROPEAN ROBOTICS The Times says the valuation puts Agile on par with Quantum Systems, valued at $8 billion in July, and Wayve, valued at $8.6 billion in February.
The framework says: “We are entering a phase where four scaling laws are simultaneously shaping the AI ecosystem, while several converging forces are radically transforming the physical layers underpinning AI itself.”
As we read it, this round puts a growthprice on a company that builds in that physical layer: 12.7 times the sales its founder expects this year, by our arithmetic. The framework predates this round and does not discuss it.
What Is Not Established
The 600 million euros is a sales expectation Chen gave the Times for this year, not reported results, and Agile publishes no accounts in the documents we read. The split of the round among SoftBank, Nvidia, Hitachi and T.Capital, and the share class issued, were not given in the reports we read.
We quote Agile’s statement as Bloomberg and dpa reported it; when we checked Agile’s English news page at 07:06 UTC, its newest item was dated 22 October. Chen gave no timetable for an offering. We did not contact Agile Robots or SoftBank for this piece.
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A SoftBank-led round values Agile Robots at $8.5 billion with $500 million of new money, Bloomberg reported. That is 12.7 times the about $668 million of sales the founder expects this year, and at most 8.5 times the valuation floor the company gave in 2021, by our arithmetic.
A note on sourcing. We read the opening of Bloomberg’s report of 12 November, which carries the figures from Agile Robots’ statement, the dpa report of the same day in full in German (our paraphrase in English) and The New York Times article in full, including its interview with Zhaopeng Chen. We read Agile’s Series C release of 10 September 2021 and the opening of Bloomberg’s report of 2 June 2026.
The sales multiple, shares, ratio and day count are our arithmetic; the 668 million dollar sales figure is the Times’ conversion of 600 million euros. We did not contact Agile Robots, SoftBank or the other investors.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
