Agility Robotics expected to go public as first US humanoid-focused company

The merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI, a special-purpose acquisition company led by former Citigroup executive Michael Klein, was completed Wednesday and values Agility's existing equity at about $2.5 billion. The company expects about $465 million in gross capital before expenses, including $100 million already received. More than half of Agility's 2025 revenue came from five robots purchased by one of its investors, according to its merger filings.

Agility makes Digit, a humanoid robot that carries heavy materials and sorts goods in factories and warehouses. It has deployed Digit across nine customer facilities, including sites belonging to Amazon, Toyota and logistics company GXO. The listing comes amid a humanoid robot boom, though Agility's disclosures show how far the industry is from profitability.

About $38 million of the net loss came from non-cash expenses tied to employee stock awards, but filings show the company used $99.8 million in cash to run the business in 2025 and lost $2.7 million on its sales before research and other expenses. "We expect to incur additional losses and higher operating expenses for the foreseeable future," the company said in SEC filings.

"There's something to be said for being first," CEO Peggy Johnson, who previously led Magic Leap and held roles at Microsoft and Qualcomm, told Business Insider. "We will be able to set many of the metrics, if you will, on what customers need in a humanoid."

George Chowdhury, principal analyst at ABI Research, said Agility is unique because its robots are actually deployed. "In the grand scheme of things, the deployments are very small, but it's big for commercial humanoids." Michelle Sun, a robotics analyst who writes the Substack Core Matter, said: "There's a lot of challenges when it comes to solving unit economics."

Agility is betting on Digit 5, its newest robot, designed to work safely near people without the safety barriers earlier versions required. The company's filing reports more than $300 million in orders for 1,000 robots from a single customer, which would pay to use them over a three-year period. Agility is targeting deliveries in the first half of 2027 and general availability by the end of that year.

The debut highlights a striking divide in how investors value humanoid robotics companies. Agility's $2.5 billion valuation sits below those of some privately held rivals, including Figure AI at about $39 billion, Apptronik at about $5.5 billion and Neura Robotics at around $7 billion. Tesla is also developing its own humanoid, Optimus, without a standalone valuation. "This is a trend we're seeing, where companies with deployments who are actually shipping hardware today are valued by the market a lot lower than companies that are betting on this future," Chowdhury said. Sun said the listing would provide a reference point for how public markets value a company that makes humanoids, a form factor that remains controversial among experts and investors.

The listing comes as Washington tightens restrictions on foreign-made robots. In July, the Federal Communications Commission banned new foreign-made "advanced robotic devices," including humanoids, quadrupeds and some robot vacuums. Agility manufactures Digit at its Oregon factory. The humanoid market is currently dominated by Chinese companies such as Unitree, which went public on the Shanghai stock exchange this summer and has a market value of around $40 billion; Chinese robotics firms accounted for about 90% of humanoid robot shipments last year, according to Omdia. "It's good for the US to show strength in this area," Johnson said.