Salem-based robot manufacturer plans to go public with $2.5B merger
A Salem-based robot manufacturer plans to go public through a merger valued at $2.5 billion, the company announced June 24. Agility Robotics is the creator of Digit, a bipedal, human-sized robot that walks on two legs and can manipulate objects. It even sports a headlike sensor with illuminated eyes. The company announced a merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI, making Agility the only U.S.-based pure-play humanoid company that's publicly listed. Agility was ideated at Oregon State University in the Dynamic Robotics Lab by Johnathan Hurst, an engineering professor and the company's so-called 'chief robot officer.' Hurst later co-founded the company with Damion Shelton and Mikhail Jones. In 2024, the company opened the world's first full-scale factory for commercially used humanoid robots. The 70,000-square-foot RoboFab facility at 4698 Truax Drive SE in southeast Salem has the capacity to produce 10,000 humanoid robots per year. These robots, created to fill material handling positions in warehouses, logistics and manufacturing industries across the United States, work in facilities across the country. Digit has logged over 65,000 hours in real workplaces, according to Agility officials. The robot can walk, lift up to 55 pounds, reach shelves and maneuver around spaces. It is already used by companies such as Toyota, Schaeffer, Mercado Libre and GXO, according to Agility. Major tech and industry companies back Agility, such as Amazon, NVIDIA and Softbank Vision Fund 2. Hurst previously told the Statesman Journal that the company's robots will be part of daily life. Robots like Digit could work in grocery stores, hospitals and even homes, he said in 2025. 'The value of a humanoid robot like Digit is the versatility and the ability to do many, many different useful tasks and things that people would rather not do,' Hurst said. The merger allows Agility access to more than $620 million, which includes $420 million from Churchill Capital and $200 million from new investors, which will trade at $10 per share. It will trade under the ticker symbol AGLT. Agility plans to use funds to fulfill existing robot orders, increase production, expand deployments and invest in AI, manufacturing and safety, the company said. The company already has over $300 million in multi-year contracted orders for Digit v5, which is designed to be the world's first humanoid robot that can work safely alongside humans, according to the release. Agility did not disclose the individual price tag for Digit units, but previous iterations of the robot were estimated to cost $250,000 per unit. The deal is expected to close in 2026.
Source: Statesman Journal