How to Invest in Apptronik Stock Pre-IPO

Once the realm of Hollywood, humanoid robots are now on the verge of becoming a practical reality, propelled by companies such as Apptronik.

The company, spun out of the University of Texas at Austin in 2016, has roots that stretch back to working on robotics for NASA.⁵ After several years of relatively quiet work, Apptronik gained prominence with its flagship product line, Apollo. The company is currently still in the prototype stage, testing its Apollo 2 version of wheeled and bipedal robots, and it plans to start selling an Apollo 3 version in about a year.⁶

In 2025, the company went from $38 million in seed funding⁷ to raising $415 million for its Series A — from investors such as B Capital, Google and Mercedes-Benz — catapulting Apptronik into unicorn status.¹ Then, in February 2026, the company announced a $520 million extension to its Series A,⁸ bringing its valuation to $5.3 billion.²

This growth comes amid a convergence of trends, including competitors such as Tesla gaining attention for its humanoid robot development,⁷ along with an AI boom. Google DeepMind has partnered with Apptronik, not only as an investor, but also by incorporating Gemini Robotics to bring AI models into Apptronik's Apollo hardware to help Apollo navigate everyday tasks.⁹

Still, the company remains in a relatively early stage. Mercedes-Benz, for instance, is testing Apollo to handle repetitive tasks in its factories, but it does not expect practical applications until 2028 or 2029.⁴

And at this point, having only conducted its Series A, Apptronik has not announced any initial public offering (IPO) plans or generated much IPO talk.

In the meantime, interested accredited investors may be able to invest in Apptronik stock pre-IPO through a private marketplace such as Forge, subject to availability and eligibility requirements. Retail investors may also be able to gain indirect exposure through other assets, as this guide examines.

Apptronik: Company background

Apptronik, based in Austin, was founded in 2016 as a spinout from the Human Centered Robotics Lab at the University of Texas at Austin.¹⁰ Co-founder Nicholas Paine (currently CTO) and his Ph.D. advisor, Luis Sentis, at UT Austin had previously worked on building NASA's Valkyrie humanoid robot dating back to 2011. After they founded Apptronik in 2016, alongside Jeff Cardenas (currently CEO) and Bill Helmsing (former COO¹¹), the company gained its first work through a NASA Small Business Innovation Research contract to develop liquid-cooled robotic actuator technology.⁵

Over the following years, Apptronik continued to do some work for NASA, but its trajectory took a turn by launching Apollo in 2023.¹² That led to commercial engagements with companies such as Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics,¹³ along with a strategic partnership with Google DeepMind, using Gemini Robotics AI models to help prepare the robots for commercial deployment.¹⁴

The idea is to have Apollo be a general-purpose, flexible, relatively affordable robot (CNBC reported a potential price of about $80,000 per unit¹⁵), rather than having companies rely on a broad range of special-purpose robots.

Apptronik stock history and funding history

Forge Data as of 09/08/2026

Initially, Apptronik raised a modest amount of outside capital across several seed rounds. This included raising $1.07 million at a $5.34 million valuation and a $0.79 stock price in March 2022, followed by a $14.70 million raise three months later at a $53.43 million valuation and a $0.99 stock price. In February 2023, another seed round raised $13.93 million at a $101.67 million valuation and a $1.64 stock price.²

However, the company's trajectory changed dramatically in 2025. In March that year, Apptronik closed its Series A across three tranches, raising a combined $414.99 million at a $1.78 billion valuation, with a stock price ranging from $2.38 to $13.42. Investors included B Capital, Capital Factory, Google, Mercedes-Benz, Japan Post Capital and ARK Invest, among others.²

Most recently, in February 2026, Apptronik closed extensions to its Series A, raising a combined $520 million at a $5.3 billion valuation and a stock price of $36.97. Investors included B Capital, Google, Mercedes-Benz, PEAK6, AT&T Ventures, John Deere and Qatar Investment Authority.²

Apptronik's Forge Price is also $36.97 at a $5.3 billion valuation, as of September 8, 2026.³ That is more than a 3,600% increase from the $0.99 price in early 2023, which implied a $53.43 million valuation.³

Forge Data as of 09/09/2026

Forge Price is a derived data point that reflects the up-to-date price performance of venture-backed, late-stage companies, and is calculated based on a proprietary model incorporating pricing inputs from primary funding round information, secondary market transactions and indications of interest (IOIs) on Forge.

Apptronik IPO outlook

Apptronik has not announced any IPO plans, and company leadership has not publicly set a timeline. As a company that closed its Series A extension in February 2026 and is still prototyping its robots, Apptronik potentially remains at an early stage relative to a public listing.

Any path toward an IPO may depend on Apptronik moving Apollo beyond pilot deployments into sustained commercial revenue, an area where partners such as Mercedes-Benz do not expect practical applications until 2028 or 2029.¹⁵ Until then, interested investors may be able to access shares only through a private marketplace such as Forge, subject to availability and eligibility requirements. IPO timing remains uncertain, and investors should not assume a listing will occur on any particular timeline. You can keep up with IPO developments by checking the Apptronik IPO page on Forge.

How to buy Apptronik stock

Apptronik has not gone public, and as such, its shares are not available to trade via traditional brokerages.

Instead, accredited investors may be able to access shares of some pre-IPO companies like Apptronik through secondary market transactions on private marketplaces like Forge, through which existing shareholders such as employees or early investors may sell their holdings. An accredited investor is a person or entity that meets income or net-worth thresholds, or professional criteria, as set by the SEC.¹⁶

However, private market access can come with constraints. Share availability is not guaranteed, and companies often impose transfer restrictions, including a Right of First Refusal (ROFR) that lets the company or existing investors buy shares before an outside buyer can when an existing shareholder tries to sell. Private company shares are also typically illiquid, especially compared to public market securities, and valuations can be uncertain.

To learn more about pre-IPO opportunities, explore our buyer's guide to investing in private market shares or our comprehensive pre-IPO investing guide. Eligible investors can also create a free account on Forge to explore available private market investment opportunities.

Potential indirect exposure to Apptronik for non-accredited investors

At least for now, direct pre-IPO investment in Apptronik is generally limited to accredited investors. However, there are publicly available investment options that may provide exposure to broader trends in the robotics or physical AI sectors, which could, in turn, affect companies such as Apptronik.

For example, investing in publicly traded robotics companies could mean gaining correlated exposure to Apptronik, depending on how much overlap there is between their customer bases and use cases. Yet competing companies might also move in opposing directions, depending on specific company performance.

Another option is investing in AI companies that provide thematic exposure to the robotics intelligence layer that Apptronik is working on. Here too, performance may vary based on the degree of similarities between Apptronik's AI work and competitors, as well as specific company operating outcomes.

Retail investors might also consider gaining indirect exposure to Apptronik by investing in publicly traded companies that have partnered with Apptronik, either as a customer or strategic relationship. Yet doing so might only provide limited exposure, depending on how much these companies rely on Apptronik compared to their overall businesses.

Lastly, investors might consider diversified robotics, AI, or broader tech ETFs or mutual funds that could similarly provide related exposure to the markets Apptronik is targeting. Select publicly traded funds could even hold small allocations of pre-IPO Apptronik stock, though private companies tend to make up a small fraction of publicly traded retail funds. Investors should always do their due diligence on any investment to determine how it fits their own objectives, rather than basing the decision on the degree of possible overlap with Apptronik.

How to analyze Apptronik stock

Since private companies generally do not face the same disclosure requirements as public companies, that can make analyzing Apptronik stock challenging. However, several data points are publicly available or have been reported, which might provide directional insights.

While the company has not released revenue data, it has announced several commercial relationships with significant companies such as Mercedes-Benz, GXO Logistics and Jabil. And at the time of its last primary funding round in February 2026, B Capital's Howard Morgan said he expected $1 billion worth of orders for Apollo in 2027, priced at approximately $80,000 per robot.¹⁵

Investors could also review Apptronik's funding and valuation history, along with its Forge Price, to determine how Apptronik's stock compares to similar private companies listed on Forge's private stock marketplace, as well as potentially other public market competitors.

Still, even when looking at what Apptronik has disclosed and the real-time pricing insights on Forge, private market stocks are generally more opaque than public market ones. So, there can be more subjectivity involved in analyzing Apptronik stock, along with the valuations of other private market companies.

Potential risks of investing in pre-IPO Apptronik stock

While investing in private market companies such as Apptronik can offer potential opportunities, there are also significant potential risks to be aware of, such as the following:

• Early-stage commercialization: While Apptronik has already started pilot projects with partners such as Mercedes-Benz⁴ and GXO Logistics,¹⁷ the company has not yet demonstrated full commercial deployment at scale. So, there is a risk regarding what full-scale deployment looks like in terms of creating sustained revenue.
• Valuation vs. revenue: Apptronik has not disclosed detailed financials, so it is hard to get a complete picture of its financial health. But, given the lack of full-scale deployments, Apptronik's $5.3 billion valuation appears to be based largely on investor enthusiasm for the potential of humanoid robotics, rather than demonstrated financial metrics such as revenue. So, justifying that valuation likely depends heavily on whether the company can execute as expected in the coming years to drive enough long-term revenue.
• Intense competition: The humanoid robotics space has attracted significant capital and high-profile competitors, including Tesla, as well as companies such as Figure AI, Agility Robotics and Chinese manufacturers such as Unitree. Many of these competitors are similarly backed by major investors and moving quickly, so it is possible that Apptronik will not keep pace.⁷
• Manufacturing and scaling risk: Building humanoid robots at commercial scale is capital-intensive and technically complex, beyond what needs to be demonstrated for pilot projects. So, it remains to be seen whether Apptronik can meet that expectation.
• Technology risk: Apollo's capabilities likely depend on continued advances in AI and robotics software, including its partnership with Google DeepMind. Any disruption to that partnership or slower-than-expected AI progress could affect development timelines and scope of use for its robots.
• Private market investing risks: Private market shares are often illiquid, information is limited compared with public companies and transfer restrictions can constrain when and whether an investor can sell.
• Potential loss of capital: As with any investment, and especially with speculative pre-IPO holdings, investors could lose some or all of their capital.

Learn more about investing in Apptronik on Forge

If you are interested in investing in Apptronik before a potential IPO if/when shares become available, eligible investors can open a free Forge account.

Once your account is active and your accreditation is verified, you may gain access to real-time private market data, context-rich insights and a marketplace built for self-directed investors.

Not sure where to begin? You can read our buyer's guide to investing in private market shares. And if questions come up along the way, Forge's experienced specialists are available to support you.