FORT Robotics to take safety stack public via SPAC merger

As robots turn into extra autonomous and enter extra areas with folks, the necessity for a reliable security expertise stack has grown. FORT Robotics Inc. right this moment mentioned it’s merging with Newbury Road II Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition firm, or SPAC.

“FORT’s mission is to ‘guarantee robots trigger no hurt,’ and we’re devoted to pioneering and constructing a shared framework for belief that robotic producers, integrators, finish customers, regulators, insurers, governments, and every other celebration can depend on,” said Samuel Reeves, founder and CEO of FORT Robotics.

“How we belief bodily AI will likely be one of many defining questions of our time, and answering will probably be a key enabler that can transfer these next-generation machines from remoted pilot applications to actual, scalable adoption,” he asserted.

Belief Layer gives for interoperability and security

“Security is usually an afterthought,” Amod Damle, head of product at FORT Robotics, informed The Robotic Report. “It’s checked out as an inhibitor to innovation. Our controllers give peace of thoughts and are on the highest security compliance stage.”

Based in 2018, FORT Robotics grew out of Reeves’s earlier firm Humanistic Robotics, which constructed robots to clear landmines.

Philadelphia-based FORT Robotics mentioned its Belief Layer permits programs from completely different producers to function safely round people and in shared environments. The platform is backed by 25 patents and has been licensed to satisfy Security Integrity Stage 3 per IEC 61508. FORT Chief Expertise Officer Nathan Bivans has joined the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to ISO TC 200 for security requirements improvement.

“We’re not simply taking a look at merchandise in isolation, but in addition as layers,” mentioned Damle. “There’s the {hardware} and firmware for security compliance, and the second layer consists of cloud intelligence, telemetry, AI insights, and co-pilots. The third layer consists of ecosystems and interfaces — APIs and tablets. Being ahead considering in AI is desk stakes.”

In January 2026, FORT Robotics launched Wi-fi E-Cease Professional, a safety-certified wearable gadget designed to stop accidents and maximize uptime throughout fashionable worksites. The corporate additionally released FORT 2.61, which added software program plans, API entry, extra granular management choices, and enhanced security behaviors.

In Might, FORT expanded The Belief Layer via its acquisition of Mapless AI, a full-stack teleoperation firm. It added distant human-in-the-loop management and onboard energetic security to FORT’s present platform.

In June, FORT Robotics introduced a strategic collaboration with NVIDIA, following an “outside-in” security method as a part of the Halos for Robotics ecosystem

The corporate mentioned its 600 clients embrace Agility, Google DeepMind, Cobot, Zoox, RIVR, Carnegie Robotics, Textron, Forterra, Genie, Ocado, Oxa, and DoorDash. It cited customers throughout industries together with humanoid robotics, warehousing, transportation, manufacturing, development, agriculture, mining, vitality, and defense.

“Irrespective of the use case, if security annoys staff, they received’t use it, which is able to decelerate the workflow,” Damle acknowledged. “If purposeful security is foundational and clear, there’s a possibility for the entire ecosystem to develop.”

FORT Robotics demonstrates robust development

FORT Robotics demonstrated robust development main as much as its SPAC deal by staying targeted on its clients, mentioned Damle.

“As bodily AI strikes into core industrial infrastructure, security is paramount,” added Griffin Schroeder, a companion at Tiger International. “FORT has constructed a vital, machine-agnostic belief layer that allows enterprise autonomy to scale safely.”

FORT Robotics famous that its 2025 income compounded at a 62% year-over-year development price, together with 91% development amongst clients spending greater than $100,000 yearly. The company additionally mentioned it maintained standalone gross margins of 70% in 2024 and 66% in 2025.

Whereas its income grew 62% in 2025, FORT mentioned its working bills grew at solely 19%, and 2025 income per worker was $276,000, demonstrating its value administration. The corporate added that it has grown and de-risked its six-figure buyer base by 3.8x since 2021, with no single buyer representing greater than 9% of 2025 income.

FORT has deployed greater than 19,500 items globally, and it mentioned about two-dozen mature enterprise accounts grew by 27% in per-account spending year-over-year in 2025.

FORT and Advantech partnered in March to combine purposeful security to the MIC-735 edge AI system, powered by the NVIDIA IGX Thor platform. Supply: FORT Robotics

Mixed firm to be valued at over $500 million

Newbury Road II mentioned it plans to listing the mixed firm, to be named FORT Robotics Holdings Inc., on Nasdaq at a valuation of $556.6 million — with a pre-money fairness worth of $500 million. FORT Robotics claimed that the transaction will create “the primary publicly traded firm devoted principally to protected and scalable deployment of bodily AI, as a common security layer throughout the robotics trade.”

“The robotics revolution is at an inflection level, and we imagine FORT’s common layer of belief can speed up widespread adoption,” mentioned Thomas Bushey, CEO of Newbury Road II. “We stay up for supporting Samuel and the group as they advance FORT’s horizontal platform for bodily AI — as a public firm, we imagine FORT is properly positioned to increase its management and create long-term shareholder worth.”

The transaction is predicted to ship roughly $201 million in gross proceeds. This consists of about $31 million of frequent fairness within the type of each PIPE (non-public funding in public fairness) and non-redemption settlement (NRA) funding from present and new institutional buyers, together with Tiger International, Prologis Ventures, and Mark Cuban.

Newbury Road II mentioned it expects the merger so as to add $182 million in web money to the stability sheet after estimated transaction prices, assuming no redemptions by Newbury Road II’s public shareholders.

FORT Robotics plans to make use of the proceeds to speed up improvement of its next-generation security intelligence, observability, and cybersecurity software program. It additionally mentioned it would scale international go-to-market and channel companion efforts and assist “focused, high-synergy tuck-in” merger and acquisition alternatives.

Current FORT shareholders will roll 100% of their fairness into the enterprise mixture, retaining an estimated 67% majority possession stake. The boards of administrators of each FORT and Newbury Road II have every unanimously accepted the deal, topic to shareholder and regulatory approval. They mentioned they count on the merger to shut within the fourth quarter of 2026.

FORT mentioned its post-closing board of administrators will embrace Sally Miller, international CIO of DHL Supply Chain; Jennifer Vescio, former govt at Uber; Vijay Kumar, dean of engineering on the College of Pennsylvania; and Karl Iagnemma, CEO at Vecna Robotics.

Register now and save in your move to RoboBusiness 2026

The submit FORT Robotics to take security stack public by way of SPAC merger appeared first on The Robotic Report.