Today, Bloomberg reported that Agile Robots has completed a $500 million financing round at an $8.5 billion valuation (approx. RMB 56.688 billion).

The round was led by SoftBank Group, with participation from NVIDIA, Hitachi, and T.Capital. The funds will be used to expand in the US and other markets and enhance manufacturing capabilities.

Headquartered in Munich, Germany, and Beijing, China, founder and CEO Zhao Peng Chen is a joint PhD candidate between Harbin Institute of Technology and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). He previously secured seed investment from Hillhouse Capital and Linear Capital, as well as angel investment from Sequoia China Seed Fund.

Agile Robots is also the second robotics company founded by Chinese nationals to receive investment from NVIDIA.

Founder from Harbin Institute of Technology

Zhao Peng Chen studied both his undergraduate and master's degrees at the Robotics Institute of Harbin Institute of Technology, mentored by Academician Liu Hong, an expert in the field of space robotics in China. He later joined the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at DLR, where he served as deputy director of the laboratory. In 2018, he co-founded Agile Robots with colleague Peter Meusel.

Agile Robots started with force-controlled robotic arms and industrial automation, subsequently expanding its product line to mobile robots, collaborative robots, embodied AI software, and humanoid robots.

In April 2026, Zhao Peng Chen led the acquisition of ThyssenKrupp Automation Engineering GmbH in Germany. This acquisition filled gaps in Agile Robots' global turnkey project delivery capabilities, endowing it with full-chain capabilities ranging from AI robot bodies to whole-line integration.

According to official website information, as of 2026, Agile Robots has deployed over 20,000 robotic solutions globally, with more than 3,500 employees. Clients include Foxconn, BMW, Volkswagen, and Xiaomi.

Masayoshi Son Leads Investment Twice

Xiaomi and Foxconn Industrial Internet are both customers and investors—

According to data from Xinou Data, Agile Robots has raised funds in 8 rounds. Investors include SoftBank, Abu Dhabi entities, Hillhouse Venture Capital, Sequoia China, Linear Capital, Xiaomi, and Foxconn Industrial Internet. The cumulative financing amount for Agile Robots is reportedly around $2 billion (approx. RMB 13.338 billion).

Agile Robots received two massive funding rounds led by SoftBank, while early-stage investors like Hillhouse, Sequoia, and Linear continued to follow on.

In September 2021, SoftBank led a $220 million Series C round for Agile Robots. At the time, it was the largest smart robotics investment by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 in China. Post-financing, the company's valuation exceeded $1 billion, joining the ranks of unicorns.

In June this year, reports indicated that SoftBank intended to participate in an $800 million financing round for Agile Robots, planning to invest over $300 million, though negotiations were still in their early stages.

In October, at the "InvestinGermany" summit in Berlin, Jensen Huang announced that NVIDIA planned to invest in four German startups: Agile Robots, Avelios Medical, Mirelo, and Reflex Aerospace, as part of nearly $10 billion in investment commitments made by NVIDIA to European companies, universities, and research institutions.

Today, Bloomberg reported that Agile Robots has completed a $500 million financing round at an $8.5 billion valuation (approx. RMB 56.688 billion).

Jensen Huang Bets on Robotics

This is not the first time NVIDIA has bet on robotics.

Before Agile Robots, NVIDIA had already invested in several companies in the fields of robotics, embodied AI, and physical AI, such as Figure AI, Skild AI, Dyna Robotics, and MeckaAI. Dyna Robotics is another robotics company founded by Chinese nationals backed by NVIDIA.

At the Berlin "InvestinGermany" summit, Jensen Huang highlighted China's unique advantages:

"China's advantage lies in the fact that its period of initiating its own industrial transformation coincided with the rise of the computer industry, resulting in a very high overall degree of computerization. China is probably the only country today that is deeply rooted in both manufacturing and computer science, and can navigate both fields with ease."

Meanwhile, Jensen Huang stated that "electronics can never replace atoms," believing that "AI can only augment your abilities, not replace them." The next wave of AI waves will be closely integrated with the physical world.

Jensen Huang's emphasis on robotics and physical AI is also evident in his children's positions: daughter Madison Huang serves as Senior Director of Product and Technical Marketing for the Physical AI platform; son Spencer Huang is the Director of Product Management for the Robotics business.

Spencer Huang also has connections with Agile Robots. On October 21, Agile Robots released the Agile ONE SN at NVIDIA GTC Berlin, a reference humanoid robot platform pre-configured for researchers and developers.

This platform addresses the common "integration overhead" faced by research teams; a pre-configured platform can reduce preparation time from weeks to days. Spencer Huang, Director of Robotics Products at NVIDIA, noted that a system with approximately 80% integration completion can significantly accelerate research progress.

For more data, please refer to the institutional version of Xinou Data and Xinou Data MCP.