Agility Robotics, an Oregon-headquartered company that relies on its Pittsburgh outpost to develop humanoid robots, will soon be a publicly traded company. 

The robotics firm, which has a local office on Lawrenceville’s Robotics Row, announced this week it’s merging with Churchill Capital Corp XI, a special-purpose acquisition company built specifically to take startups like Agility public. The transaction, which values Agility at a $2.5 billion pre-money equity value, is expected to close later this year. Once the paperwork clears, the new joint company will go by Agility and trade under the ticker “AGLT.”

“We believe humanoids are at a meaningful inflection point in commercial adoption.”

Peggy Johnson, Agility

“We believe humanoids are at a meaningful inflection point in commercial adoption,” Peggy Johnson, CEO of Agility, said in the announcement, “and we are focused on meeting growing customer demand, expanding deployments and advancing our roadmap across robotics, physical AI, safety systems and enterprise software.” 

Agility is known for developing a robot called Digit which works collaboratively with humans in manufacturing and industrial environments. In 2024, Digit became the first humanoid bot deployed in commercial operations when it entered the workforce at a GXO facility near Atlanta, Georgia. 

The company expanded to Pittsburgh in 2022 following a $150 million Series B, becoming one of the region’s top-raising companies. Since its founding in 2015, it has attracted investments totaling more than $680 million. 

A humanoid robot wearing a GXO vest stands in a warehouse with conveyor belts, while a worker in a yellow vest operates in the background.
Agility’s robot at the GXO facility (Courtesy)

Churchill Capital has taken other companies public before. In 2021, the electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors debuted on the Nasdaq through a similar merger. 

“Churchill Capital is proud to partner with companies that are shaping the future of technology and commerce,” Michael Klein, chairman and CEO of Churchill Capital, said in a prepared statement. “We are excited to support Peggy, Jonathan, and the Agility team as they scale deployment of Digit, extend their leadership in physical AI and create enduring value for shareholders.”