Bedrock Robotics, a startup focused on automating heavy construction equipment, has raised $80 million across its Seed and Series A rounds. The company, which recently emerged from stealth, aims to address growing infrastructure demands and labor shortages by upgrading existing machinery with autonomous systems.
Rather than building new equipment, Bedrock retrofits customers’ current fleets with hardware and software designed for same-day installation. This approach allows construction companies to convert traditional machinery into fully autonomous units without overhauling their operations.
The U.S. is witnessing a rise in manufacturing and infrastructure investment, with $238 billion committed to manufacturing facilities in 2024 alone. However, the construction sector faces a labor shortfall of around 500,000 workers. Each year, an estimated 1.25 billion hours are spent operating heavy equipment, further highlighting inefficiencies.
With 40% of the construction workforce expected to retire within the next decade, automation is emerging as a potential solution to maintain project timelines and costs.
The founding team at Bedrock includes three former Waymo employees, one of whom led the company’s trucking division, and a fourth co-founder with experience leading teams at data infrastructure company Segment. Collectively, the leadership brings deep expertise in machine learning, autonomy, and system design for safety-critical environments.
Laurent Hautefeuille, former Executive Vice President at Uber Freight, has joined Bedrock as Chief Operating Officer. At Uber, he helped grow the freight business to $5 billion in revenue.
Bedrock’s initial deployments are underway at construction sites in Arizona, Texas, and Arkansas, beginning with autonomous excavators. The system, known as the Bedrock Operator, integrates into existing machines and workflows, allowing crews to monitor progress, enhance safety, and work extended hours.
The company is working toward its first operator-less commercial deployment by 2026.
The Series A round was led by 8VC, with the Seed round led by Eclipse. Other participants include Two Sigma Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, NVentures (Nvidia’s venture capital arm), Crossbeam Venture Partners, Raine Group, Tishman Speyer, Atreides Management, Al Rajhi Partners, and Samsara Ventures.
In parallel, Bedrock is partnering with construction firms such as Sundt Construction and Texas-based Zachry Construction, Champion Site Prep, and Capitol Aggregates. These collaborations focus on field testing and refining deployment strategies.
Eric Cylwik, director at Sundt, noted the company’s openness to piloting new technologies that enhance efficiency and safety. “From our early discussions with Bedrock, it was evident they understood the practical challenges of applying robotics in real-world settings,” he said.
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By Proptechbuzz
By Ravi Kumar