In this episode, Connie Loizos and Alex Gove sit down with Agility Robotics CEO Peggy Johnson following the company&#x27;s announcement that it will go public, making it one of the first pure-play humanoid robotics companies to reach the public markets. Peggy explains why she believes the industry is moving beyond flashy demos and into real commercial deployment and how Agility built a $300 million pipeline for its humanoid robot Digit.<br><br>They also discuss the economics of humanoid robots, Agility&#x27;s robots-as-a-service model, how AI is accelerating robot training, what separates real commercial deployments from pilot programs, and why Peggy believes safety will be the defining challenge for the industry. Finally, she shares her perspective on the crowded humanoid robotics race, why Agility chose to go public through a SPAC, and what it will take for robots to eventually work safely alongside people in factories and, one day, in our homes.<br>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Race to Build the First Real Humanoid Robot Business with Peggy Johnson from Agility

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Hi, I'm Connie Loizos. And this is Alex Gove. And this is StrictlyVC Download. Hi, welcome back to StrictlyVC Download. Humanoid robots are moving off the factory floor and onto Wall Street.

Agility Robotics, the Oregon-based startup behind Digit, a bipedal robot already at work in Amazon warehouses and on Toyota assembly lines, is set to go public through a SPAC merger that values the company at roughly $2.5 billion. The deal, backed by Foxconn, Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank, would make Agility the first stand-alone humanoid robotics company to list on public markets.

At the helm is Peggy Johnson, a veteran technology executive who previously led the augmented reality company Magic Leap and who spent years at Microsoft. She's betting that a perfect storm of retiring workers, reshoring ambitions, and pent-up investor appetite for the robotics sector will carry Agility to the next level and beyond. We really enjoyed talking to Peggy for this week's podcast. We hope you will enjoy the conversation, and we will see you back here next week.

Peggy, really a pleasure to be meeting you and talking with you now. And it turns out we've got a great news hook to lead us into this. Interesting story of yours. Agility is merging with Michael Klein's Churchill Capital Corp. It's a SPAC. You are set to see $620 million in gross proceeds, which is the largest capital raise in humanoid robotics history. I have to ask, why go public now and why through a SPAC?

Sure. Yeah, we get that question often, and it's a good question. We really want to take advantage of the market momentum and be the first mover in the category. There are no pure play humanoid robotics companies who've gone public.

The Race to Build the First Real Humanoid Robot Business with Peggy Johnson from Agility

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

The Race to Build the First Real Humanoid Robot Business with Peggy Johnson from Agility

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.