FORT Robotics Is Going Public to Build a Safety Net for the Robot Age
The Philadelphia startup wants every autonomous machine, from warehouse bots to self-driving vans, to share one safety system. A merger deal values it at over $500 million.
Key points
- FORT Robotics is merging with a blank-cheque acquisition company to list on Nasdaq at a valuation of $556.6 million.
- The combined company, FORT Robotics Holdings Inc., expects the deal to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
- FORT's 2025 revenue grew 62% year-over-year while operating expenses grew only 19%.
- More than 19,500 safety units have been deployed globally, with customers including Google DeepMind, Zoox, Agility and DoorDash.
- The transaction is expected to bring roughly $201 million in gross proceeds, backed by Tiger Global, Prologis Ventures and Mark Cuban.
Somewhere on a warehouse floor right now, a robot is moving towards a person. Whether it stops in time depends on safety software most people have never heard of. FORT Robotics wants to be the company that makes sure it always stops.
The Philadelphia startup announced this week that it is merging with Newbury Street II Acquisition Corp., a SPAC (a special-purpose acquisition company, a listed shell firm created to take a private company public without a traditional stock market debut), valuing the combined business at $556.6 million. We covered Agility Robotics taking a similar SPAC route at a $2.5 billion valuation on 14 August, and FORT's deal suggests the trend has legs.
What does FORT Robotics actually make?
FORT builds a Trust Layer: hardware controllers, cloud software and safety certifications that sit between a robot's brain and its motors, acting as a last line of defence before anything goes wrong.
The idea is that machines from different manufacturers, a forklift from one brand and a delivery robot from another, can share the same safety rules in the same building. The platform holds 25 patents and is certified to Safety Integrity Level 3 under IEC 61508, an international electrical safety standard. That is one of the tightest ratings a control system can carry.
Founder Samuel Reeves started the company in 2018, building on earlier work clearing landmines with robots. He told The Robot Report: "How we trust physical AI will be one of the defining questions of our time."
The product line has expanded quickly. FORT launched Wireless E-Stop Pro in January 2026, a wearable button any worker can carry to freeze nearby robots instantly. That May, it acquired Mapless AI, a teleoperation (remote human control of robots) specialist, adding a human-in-the-loop layer. A June collaboration with NVIDIA placed FORT inside the Halos for Robotics safety ecosystem.
How healthy is the business?
The numbers are strong. FORT reported 62% revenue growth in 2025, with revenue per employee reaching $276,000.
| Metric | Figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 62% year-over-year | 2025 |
| Growth among customers spending $100k+ annually | 91% | 2025 |
| Gross margin | 66% | 2025 |
| Units deployed globally | 19,500+ | To date |
| Expected gross proceeds from merger | ~$201 million | On closing |
No single customer accounts for more than 9% of 2025 revenue. Existing FORT shareholders are rolling 100% of their equity into the deal and will retain an estimated 67% ownership stake, which signals genuine confidence rather than a cash-out.
What does going public mean for the robot industry?
FORT plans to spend the proceeds on next-generation safety intelligence, cybersecurity software and global expansion.
For workers sharing floors with autonomous machines, a better-funded safety layer should mean fewer near-misses and more consistent behaviour across robot brands. Head of product Amod Damle told The Robot Report: "If safety annoys workers, they won't use it." The goal is safety that runs invisibly in the background.
What to watch here is margin trajectory: gross margin slipped from 70% in 2024 to 66% in 2025, a modest compression that a bigger sales force and acquisition costs could widen further. Reeves has built a real business with real customers, but the SPAC structure means retail investors are betting on a forecast, not a track record on public markets.
The merger still needs shareholder and regulatory approval before FORT Robotics Holdings Inc. Trades on Nasdaq.
