German startup Agile Robots raises $220 million from SoftBank

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German startup Agile Robots raises $220 million from SoftBank

BERLIN Reuters - German startup Agile Robots said on Thursday it had raised $220 million from investors led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and would invest the proceeds to expand its production and sales operations.

The investment round valued Agile Robots, having dual headquarters in Munich and Beijing, at more than $1 billion - adding it to the growing ranks of tech startups with so-called unicorn status.

Agile Robots was founded in 2018. It includes a five-fingered robot that can serve as'smart assistant' in settings like assembling smartphones or providing health treatments.

Agile Robots realistically brings the next generation of robots into industrial intelligent components assembly areas and medical treatment scenarios that could previous only be carried out by humans, said founder and CEO Zhaopeng Chen.

With the excellent backing of our well-known investors and customers, we are confident that robotics will lead into a new era. Also participating in the Series C venture capital round were financial investors Abu Dhabi Royal Group, Hillhouse Ventures, Sequoia Capital China and Linear Capital.

Strategic investors included the Xiaomi Group, the Foxconn Industrial Internet and Midas, founded by former executives at Foxconn, which assembles devices such as the Apple iPhone.