Our Next Chapter: A New $20M Investment In Agility Robotics
Today, we are thrilled to announce a new $20 million round of investment in Agility Robotics. This round was co-led by Data Collective Venture Capital (DCVC) and by Playground Global, who also led our seed round, with participation from TDK Ventures, MFV Partners, the Industrial Technology Investment Corporation, Sony Innovation Fund, and Safar Partners.
We’re grateful to our investors and our customers who have worked with us to reach this important milestone. This investment round brings our total funding to date up to $29 million, following an $8 million investment round in 2018. The new capital enables Agility Robotics to scale our operation to manufacture and support Digit robots in several specific applications with our customers, and continue to build toward our vision of deploying humanoid robots that operate alongside humans in real world settings.
When we founded Agility Robotics in 2015, we recognized there was a huge demand for robots capable of navigating and working in human spaces, going where people go, and handling highly variable terrains, such as staircases and outdoor surfaces like rocks and mud. Legs are a clear solution to this mobility challenge, as humans and animals prove; but demonstrating such performance with robots had been a barrier up to this point. We set out to create robots with legs, manipulators, and perception that would allow them to operate in human spaces, working with and around us in our own environment.
At the DARPA Robotics Challenge in 2015, the bipedal robot ATRIAS demonstrated to the world (and Agility’s early investors) that our unique approach to dynamic locomotion set us apart from the competition.
Over the next two years, Agility’s first product, the bipedal robot Cassie, was built on the technical and scientific foundations proven by ATRIAS. Cassie was the first step towards real-world utility, with a focus on engineering, producing, selling, and supporting Cassie for early R&D customers, including some of the top universities in the world.
In July 2020, Agility Robotics began shipping Digit, Agility’s first product to demonstrate our vision of real-world utility using legs, arms, and perception. Legs enable Digit to handle outdoor spaces, stairs, and other normal human environments. Arms help Digit balance, catch a fall, get back up, and handle boxes and doors, just like a person. Perception enables Digit to navigate and manipulate an uncertain environment. Digit can pick up and move boxes for applications including counter service or sortation in logistics spaces and inspection and mapping for real-time data collection where typical robots can’t go. In addition to these novel capabilities, Digit is a machine that people like to be around.
As we apply and expand Digit’s capabilities, we’re proud to be working with many of the world’s leading logistics, retail, and warehouse companies, and we are excited to share more about those relationships in the near future.
When we set out to raise a new round of capital, we sought investors with deep technical expertise and a proven track record of building large, successful technology companies, leveraging new technologies and creating new markets.
DCVC immediately recognized the value in our market and the novelty of our approach. Their long history of pairing strong technical background with the operational and business insight will be a major benefit to our long term business strategy. MFV Partners similarly understood right away why our approach is unique and offers a long history of scaling and growing tech-led disruptions in automotive, manufacturing, and other industries where semiconductor production is critical.
TDK Ventures is another strong strategic match for us, as they manufacture a range of devices and sensors that feed into the fast-growing robotics supply chain. The Industrial Technology Investment Corporation (ITIC) will also bring deep institutional knowledge in semiconductors and mobility technologies and will provide a strong connection to the ecosystem of manufacturing in Taiwan and Greater Asia. Safar Partners understands the unique challenges and opportunities for systems that include mechanical, electrical and software components.
Dynamic robotic locomotion is imperative to societal progress, especially as e-commerce continues to grow and change the way people buy things. Agility is already deploying Digit into workplaces, logistic warehouses, and other facilities where it can perform well-defined tasks in human spaces. Legged robots that can operate in our spaces will become increasingly common, and will change the world as much as the automobile or smartphone.
We’re excited to be a leader in bringing legged robots to human spaces, and if you are interested in joining our growing team, we would love to hear from you. Agility is, after all, defined by the people who create the robots — their collective dedication and expertise is how we turn capital investment into real progress and impact.
We look forward to the path ahead.