SoftBank (TYO: 9984) has led a funding round of roughly $500 million in Agile Robots, the Munich-based robotics company that Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) also backs.

The investment arrives about a week after China declined to approve SoftBank's $5.4 billion purchase of the robotics division of ABB (SWX: ABBN).

Why SoftBank is betting on Agile Robots

Founded in 2018 by researchers from the German Aerospace Center, Agile Robots became Germany's first robotics unicorn in 2021, when SoftBank led a $220 million Series C round. The new round more than doubles the size of that Series C. SoftBank was also in early talks to anchor the new raise of around $800 million and could put in more than $300 million.

The company has more than 3,200 employees across Germany, China and India, and builds both the software and the hardware for its robots. According to the company, revenue doubled from the year before and reached about $230 million (200 million euros).

In November 2025, Agile Robots launched Agile ONE, its first humanoid robot, built for factory jobs such as running machines, picking up and placing items, and handling small parts with care. The company planned to begin full production at a new plant in Bavaria in early 2026.

Nvidia's role in Agile Robots

Nvidia announced its plan to invest in Agile Robots at the Invest in Germany Summit in October, during CEO Jensen Huang's visit to Berlin. Cryptopolitan reported that three other German companies were on its list: medical-software maker Avelios, audio firm Mirelo and satellite builder Reflex Aerospace. At the same event, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on the country's manufacturers to share their industrial data with AI systems.

Nvidia is also working with Agile Robots directly. CEO Zhaopeng Chen has revealed that the company plans to build 1,000 to 2,000 small humanoids next year. They will use Nvidia's Jetson Thor computer and its GR00T AI model, and Stanford University and ETH Zurich were named as possible buyers. The robots are versions of the Agile ONE line, standing 1.4 meters tall and weighing about 34 kilograms so that lab researchers can handle them safely. The Bavaria plant's planned early-2026 production start and next year's 1,000-to-2,000-unit build are the company's next major milestones for its humanoid push.

Globally, $27.6 billion went into robotics and physical AI in 2025, more than twice the amount from the year before, and Agile Robots' roughly $500 million raise forms part of that larger wave of capital.

Masayoshi Son, SoftBank's founder, has been putting money into robotics as well as AI. SoftBank has also finished a new $30 billion investment in OpenAI, which raised its share of the company to about 13%. It was reported in August that Son is in talks to take a majority stake in 1X Technologies, which is backed by OpenAI, at a value near $6 billion.

Why the ABB deal fell through

On November 5, ABB said China's National Development and Reform Commission had told SoftBank it would not approve the transfer of ABB's China robotics operations, stalling the deal the two sides signed in October 2025. Chinese officials reportedly feared that robotics data would be sent abroad to train AI models. That concern stands in contrast to the stance voiced at October's Invest in Germany Summit, where Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged manufacturers to share industrial data with AI systems.

The ABB transaction was the second foreign purchase Beijing has blocked this year. Meta (NASDAQ: META) was earlier ordered to undo its purchase of the AI startup Manus.

SoftBank's shares dropped more than 11% in Tokyo the day after China refused to approve the ABB deal. At the same time, it became more expensive to insure SoftBank's debt, with the five-year price reaching 466 basis points, the highest since October 2022 and the highest in four years.