Bedrock Robotics, the company developing advanced autonomous systems for the $13 trillion global construction industry, emerged from stealth with $80 million in Seed and Series A backing. Rather than design and sell costly new machinery, Bedrock upgrades customers’ existing heavy equipment fleets with reversible, same-day hardware and software installs to enable fully autonomous operations.

With reindustrialization of the United States accelerating, Bedrock’s technology bridges the expanding gap between rapidly rising domestic infrastructure needs and shrinking workforce capacity. In 2024, investment in U.S. manufacturing facilities alone reached a record $238 billion. Despite a painful shortage of 500K construction workers, 1.25 billion hours are spent annually on operating heavy equipment. With 40% of construction workers expected to retire in the next decade, the case for automation that enhances availability and flexibility of labor for the industry has never been stronger.

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Founded by three former Waymo leaders – including the former head of its trucking program – and a fourth co-founder who previously led teams at Segment, the Bedrock Robotics leadership team brings extensive experience across machine learning, system architecture, and operation of autonomy technologies in complex, safety-critical environments. Now, the company’s executives are applying their expertise to construction to improve cost, schedule, safety, and predictability of labor-intensive projects. Laurent Hautefeuille, previous EVP at Uber Freight responsible for building the business from inception to $5B in revenue, has recently joined Bedrock as COO.

By integrating with existing construction machines and workflows, the Bedrock Operator powers machines with expert capabilities, empowering builders with the ability to work around the clock, accelerate project schedules, increase profitability and safety, and track progress on jobs. Bedrock’s systems are running on machines, starting with excavators, across active customer construction sites in Arizona, Texas, and Arkansas. The latest funding rounds, Series A led by 8VC and Seed led by Eclipse, will help Bedrock grow its engineering, operations, and commercialization teams, and deepen partnerships to reach its target of initial operator-less deployment in 2026.

“The construction industry is facing so much pressure with the soaring demand for new factories and data centers, the housing crisis, and the mandate for re-industrialization in the U.S.,” said Boris Sofman, CEO and co-founder of Bedrock Robotics. “The only way to rise to the occasion is by empowering construction teams with advanced automation they can trust. Together with our partners in the industry, we’re ushering in a new era where autonomy and intelligence supercharge building, which will benefit both contractors and society.”

Companies like Sundt Construction, a Phoenix-based general contractor with whom Bedrock collaborates closely on field testing and product improvements, are looking for ways to expand operational capacity. “At Sundt, we pride ourselves on being one of the most forward-thinking builders in the country. Staying at the forefront of innovation means continuously exploring technologies that can improve how we work,” said Eric Cylwik, Director at Sundt Construction. “From our earliest conversations with Bedrock, it was clear they had a strong grasp on the challenges we were trying to solve with robotics. Their thoughtful approach to safety and deployment made it an easy decision to partner and pilot their system on our projects. When a technology proves its value in the field, this industry will pick it up fast.”

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Additional Quotes 

“There are only a small handful of people who can introduce autonomy to a new industry with real credibility — and Boris and the Bedrock Robotics founding team are those people,” said Aidan Madigan-Curtis, partner at Eclipse. “We’re at a unique moment in technology history where autonomy can be productized for industries that truly need it. When I met Boris and the team, it was clear to me that their grit and experience could address the massive market demand for innovation in construction.”

“I’ve long been a robotics skeptic, but Bedrock Robotics was the first company I saw that had it all: the right team, a truly compelling problem that can uniquely be solved today, and a massive market opportunity. Bedrock’s founding team helped pioneer road autonomy at Waymo, and now they’re breaking new ground in construction. At a time when rebuilding America is front and center, Bedrock Robotics’ automation platform is poised to be the workhorse of the new American economy — boosting productivity, driving resilience, and raising wages where it matters most,” said Alex Kolicich, Founding Partner at 8VC.

“What Bedrock is doing is truly next level. While others are focused on moving dump trucks from point A to B, Bedrock is using advanced AI to actually shape the earth itself. Led by one of Waymo’s original technical leaders — someone who helped bring full autonomy to public roads —they are now applying that experience to revolutionize how we build the world,” said John Krafcik, former CEO of Waymo and early Bedrock investor.

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Source – PR Newswire

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