Fort Robotics, a company specializing in safety systems for autonomous machines, is going public through a merger with SPAC Newbury Street II Acquisition Corp. The deal values the company at $556.6 million and is expected to provide about $201 million in gross proceeds. The funds will be used to expand its safety platform and pursue growth opportunities.
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Robot safety company Fort Robotics announced its public listing through a SPAC merger, valuing the company at $556.6 million, aiming to expand its Trust Layer safety platform to address safety challenges posed by the scaling of physical AI.
On August 19, 2026, Fort Robotics announced plans to go public through a merger with Newbury Street II Acquisition Corp., with a pro forma enterprise value of $556.6 million. The transaction is expected to provide approximately $201 million in gross proceeds (assuming no redemptions), including approximately $31 million from private placements and institutional investments. After deducting estimated transaction costs, Fort expects to receive approximately $182 million in net cash.
The combined company will be named Fort Robotics Holdings Inc. and is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FROB. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to approval by Newbury Street II shareholders, completion of the concurrent private placement, SEC review, and Nasdaq approval. The boards of both companies have approved the transaction.
Fort plans to use the funds to develop additional safety, monitoring, and cybersecurity software, expand sales and channel partnerships, and pursue selective acquisitions.
Fort's primary product, Trust Layer, aims to provide common safety controls for machines from different manufacturers operating in shared environments. The company states that the platform is machine- and application-agnostic, protected by 25 patents, and has achieved Safety Integrity Level 3 certification under the IEC 61508 standard.
In May 2025, Fort expanded the platform through the acquisition of Mapless AI, adding remote operation and onboard safety features that enable human intervention when autonomous systems require assistance.
The company's technology has been deployed in over 19,500 devices, serving more than 600 customers, including Agility Robotics, Google DeepMind, Cobot, Zoox, RIVR, Carnegie Robotics, Textron, Forterra, Genie, Ocado, Oxa, and DoorDash.
Fort reported 2025 revenue growth of 62%, a gross margin of 66% (down from 70% in 2024), operating expenses up 19% year-over-year, and revenue per employee of $276,000.
In 2025, no single customer accounted for more than 9% of revenue, and the number of customers spending six figures annually has grown 3.8 times since 2021. The installed base exceeds 19,500 units, up 3.7 times since 2021.
In 2025 bookings, customers acquired before 2025 accounted for approximately 68%, and the average spending of about two dozen established enterprise customers grew 27% year-over-year.
Existing Fort shareholders will roll all their equity into the transaction and are expected to hold approximately 67% of the combined company at closing (assuming no shareholder redemptions).
The company's investors include Tiger Global, Mark Cuban Companies, Prologis Ventures, and Five Eleven Partners. It recently announced a partnership with Nvidia to participate in its Halos for Robotics safety ecosystem.
Fort was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Pennsylvania, originating from founder Samuel Reeves' earlier mine-clearing robot company, Humanistic Robotics. Reeves stated that physical AI will reshape industries, but the new risks introduced by autonomous machines must be addressed before the technology scales.
This report is based on a single source from The AI Insider and is a secondary report. All financial data, customer lists, and certification information come from Fort Robotics' official announcements and have not been independently verified. The completion of the transaction is subject to multiple approvals and involves uncertainties.
Fort Robotics' SPAC listing is a significant signal in the physical AI safety sector. Its Trust Layer platform and customer base indicate growing market demand for robot safety solutions, but the transaction's completion and the company's future performance remain uncertain.
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