FORT Robotics gets $20M from Tiger Global and Mark Cuban ahead of FROB Nasdaq listing
FORT Robotics, the Philadelphia maker of safety controllers and wireless e-stops for autonomous machines, said on Oct 22 that existing investors committed about $20 million: Tiger Global leads a roughly $10 million financing with Mark Cuban Companies that should close this week, and Tiger added $10 million to the PIPE tied to FORT's merger with the SPAC Newbury Street II (Nasdaq: NTWO).
An 8-K filed the same day shows the new PIPE buys 1 million shares at $10 plus up to 400,561 bonus shares, and FORT says capital committed around the deal now exceeds $50 million. The combined company is to trade as FROB.
FORT Robotics said on Oct 22 that existing investors have committed about $20 million in new money as the Philadelphia company works toward a Nasdaq listing through a merger with the blank-check company Newbury Street II Acquisition Corp. The release was filed with the SEC as an exhibit to Newbury Street II's 8-K the same day.
The money comes in two pieces. Tiger Global is leading a private financing of about $10 million, with Mark Cuban Companies taking part, which FORT expects to close this week. Tiger Global has also committed a further $10 million to the PIPE that funds at the merger's closing. FORT said the total capital committed in connection with the deal is now more than $50 million. It plans to spend the new money on staff and operating capacity for customers in warehousing, defence and construction.
What the filing adds
The 8-K shows the price of the new PIPE money. The October investor, one of the original PIPE buyers, agreed on Oct 21 to buy 1 million Newbury Street II shares at $10. The sponsor will hand it up to 313,604 founder shares for no extra payment, and FORT will issue it stock that converts into up to 86,957 more shares at closing. If all of those incentive shares are delivered, the investor gets about 1.4 million shares for $10 million, an effective price of about $7.14 a share. Method: $10 million divided by 1,400,561 shares. The original PIPE signed with the merger agreement on Aug 17 was 3,125,000 shares at $10, or $31.25 million.
What FORT sells
FORT calls its product a trust layer for physical AI: wireless emergency stops, safety controllers and software that let operators halt and supervise autonomous machines working near people. It says the platform runs on more than 19,500 units for over 600 customers, naming [Agility Robotics](/companies/agility-robotics), [DoorDash](/companies/doordash), Cobot, Zoox, Textron and [Google DeepMind](/companies/google-deepmind). Tiger Global first backed the company when it led the 2022 Series B. On the same day Agility said it will build Digit 5's safety system on NVIDIA hardware and the Halos platform, a reminder that humanoid makers are buying safety from several suppliers at once.
- Agility Robotics
- Churchill Capital Corp XI (CCXI)
- AGLT
- S-4 effective Oct 13; close expected Q4 2026
- FORT Robotics
- Newbury Street II (NTWO)
- FROB
- Draft S-4 submitted confidentially; PIPE commitments above $50M with the new financing
From company releases and SEC filings; no closing date disclosed for FORT.
As of Oct 22, 2026
MEKAWIRE analysis
The bonus shares tell the story: safety is becoming a must-have layer for every robot fleet, but public-market money for a small safety supplier still has to be bought at a discount.
An effective $7.14 entry against a $10 headline price is a common SPAC sweetener, and it shows investors want protection before redemptions are known. The counter-argument is FORT's installed base: 19,500 units across 600 customers is a real footprint for a company founded in 2018, and safety certification requirements for humanoids, covered in our [robot safety standards explainer](/news/robot-safety-standards-2026-explained-iso-10218-2025-iso-ts-15066-humanoid-iso-25785-1-eu-korea-china-20261017), push buyers toward independent safety hardware. Signals to watch: the public S-4 filing with FORT's revenue, the Newbury Street II shareholder vote and redemption rate, and whether Agility names FORT in the Digit 5 safety stack. Company page: [FORT Robotics](/companies/fort-robotics).
- FORT Robotics Holdings, Nasdaq ticker FROB, after merger with Newbury Street II (NTWO)
- More than 19,500 units with over 600 customers; 25 patents
- $10M: 1,000,000 Newbury Street II shares at $10, signed Oct 21
- About $20M from existing investors (Oct 22, 2026)
- Up to 313,604 sponsor founder shares plus up to 86,957 shares via FORT stock at closing
- More than $50M in connection with the merger (company figure)
- About $10M led by Tiger Global with Mark Cuban Companies, expected to close this week