Apptronik, the Austin-based artificial-intelligence humanoid robotics startup, has announced a major new funding effort, bringing the company’s valuation to $5 billion. Earlier this month, the company said it had secured $331 million toward a planned $500 million raise, with more investment potentially on the way. That follows the $403 million Apptronik brought in earlier this year. The company reportedly plans to seek additional investment before year’s end. Apptronik was founded as a spinoff of the Human Centered Robotics Lab at the University of Texas in 2016. The company specializes in artificially intelligent humanoid robots and is a leader in the global robotics race, competing directly with Austin-based Tesla and its humanoid robotics plans. Tesla Inc. is worth about $1.3 trillion, but the majority of its revenue and profit come from the company’s electric vehicle and energy businesses. The new funding and valuation were confirmed by co-founder and UT aerospace engineering professor Luis Sentis at a tech and investor conference near Austin last week. Speaking Thursday, he said the company had “closed something much bigger” but could not share further details.

Full report : Backed by Mercedes-Benz, Google and local investors, Apptronik looks to scale production of its Apollo humanoid.

For more see the OODA Company Profile on Apptronik.