Feb 11 (Reuters) - Humanoid robotics startup Apptronik raised $520 million in a funding round backed by investors including Google and Mercedes-Benz, the company said on Wednesday, as it seeks to commercialize its robots for industrial use.

The ​round valued the Austin, Texas-based company at about $5 ‌billion, a source familiar with the matter said. B Capital and the Qatar Investment Authority also participated ⁠in the so-called Series A extension, roughly a year after Apptronik raised $415 million.

Apptronik ⁠plans to use the fresh capital to develop new versions ‌of its Apollo ‌robot, ramp up production and expand its workforce beyond its current headcount of more than 300 employees. ​It is also planning a robot training ‌and data collection facility in Austin and an office in California.

Chief Executive Jeff Horden said the company expects more deployments of humanoid ​robots in factories and warehouses this ​year and ‌next.

The funding comes as companies race to develop human-like robots for industrial work; Tesla and Nvidia-backed Figure AI are trying to build and deploy ⁠humanoids at scale. Figure AI was recently valued at $39 billion.

Apptronik is initially ⁠targeting manufacturing and logistics customers and has commercial agreements with Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics. Over the longer term, it is seeking to expand into assisted care and home-use applications.

Its humanoid Apollo has both legs and wheels to navigate industrial ⁠environments. Apptronik ‌says human-scale robots can access existing workstations and shelving, potentially ‌replacing some task-specific industrial machines over time.

The company is also deepening its partnership ⁠with Google DeepMind, which co-develops the Gemini-based artificial intelligence models for the Apollo platform. Apptronik provides the hardware and real-world training data from its deployments, Horden said.

Founded in 2016 as a spinout from the University of Texas, Apptronik traces its origins to early work on NASA's Valkyrie humanoid robot program.

Howard Morgan, a general partner at B Capital, said the ​company has a competitive advantage in its robotic hand design and has built a sizable commercial order pipeline.

"The valuation relative to its potential is more attractive ​than some of its peers," Morgan ‌said in an interview.