Jeff Cardenas

Eschewing the flashy, press-release-heavy reveals common in the robotics industry, Apptronik has silently updated its website to showcase Apollo 2, its next-generation modular humanoid platform built for scale and commercial deployment.

Apptronik CEO Jeff Cardenas details the company’s "pragmatic" roadmap for humanoid deployment, including wheeled variants and a three-phase plan for mass-market adoption.

Austin-based Apptronik has announced a $520 million extension to its Series A, bringing total capital to nearly $1 billion as it gears up for mass production of the Apollo humanoid and a new robot debut in 2026.

In a candid interview, Jeff Cardenas outlines the "mainframe to PC" shift in robotics, the geopolitical stakes between the U.S. and China, and why Apptronik’s nearly decade-long head start makes it hard for new entrants to catch up.

Apptronik has been named to CNBC's 2025 Disruptor 50 list at #33, becoming the first humanoid robotics company to achieve this recognition. The selection highlights Apptronik's scalability, AI integration through its Apollo robot, a recent $350M Series A funding, and key partnerships, signaling the growing prominence of humanoid robots.