FORT Robotics Strikes SPAC Deal for $556.6 Million Nasdaq Debut

Safety infrastructure heads for public markets

FORT Robotics and blank-check company Newbury Street II Acquisition Corp signed a definitive merger agreement on August 18 that would take the Philadelphia robotics-safety company public on Nasdaq. The combined business is expected to trade as FORT Robotics Holdings under the ticker FROB, with a $556.6 million pro forma enterprise value and a $500 million pre-money equity value.stocktitan +1

The deal is expected to generate about $201 million in gross proceeds if Newbury Street II shareholders do not redeem their shares. That includes more than $31 million in committed common-equity investments from backers including Tiger Global, Prologis Ventures and Mark Cuban; estimated net cash to FORT would be roughly $182 million after transaction costs.stocktitan +1

A bet on the guardrails around autonomous machines

Founded in 2018 by chief executive Samuel Reeves, FORT makes hardware and software intended to stop, control and monitor autonomous machines operating near people. Its machine-agnostic platform is certified to Safety Integrity Level 3 under the IEC 61508 standard, is supported by 25 patents and has been deployed on more than 19,500 units for over 600 customers.stocktitan +1

Those customers span robotics developers and industrial users, including Agility Robotics, DoorDash, Zoox, Textron and Google DeepMind. FORT says 2025 revenue grew 62%, while mature enterprise accounts — customers spending more than $100,000 annually — expanded 91%; standalone gross margin was 66%.stocktitan +1 The proposed listing gives public investors an unusually direct wager on safety systems rather than robot makers themselves, while extending a recent wave of robotics companies turning to SPACs for capital.bloomberg +1

Redemptions remain the deal's pressure point

FORT plans to use the proceeds for product development, global sales, channel partnerships and smaller acquisitions. Existing shareholders will roll all their equity into the transaction and are expected to own about 67% of the combined company at closing, assuming no redemptions.stocktitan +1

That assumption is consequential. The cash available can shrink if Newbury Street II investors redeem shares, and the merger still requires shareholder approval, an SEC review, regulatory clearances and Nasdaq listing approval. The companies target a fourth-quarter 2026 close.stocktitan +1 FORT's growth and 600-customer reach support the pitch, but public filings will expose its absolute revenue, losses and hardware-software mix to closer scrutiny; the SPAC market's post-2021 record gives investors reason to test the $500 million equity valuation rather than accept it at face value.bloomberg +1