Built Robotics is a company.
Built Robotics has raised $112.0M across 3 funding rounds.
Key people at Built Robotics.
Built Robotics has raised $112.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Built Robotics is a San Francisco-based startup founded in 2016 that develops AI-powered autonomy kits, such as the Exosystem, to transform off-the-shelf heavy construction equipment into fully autonomous robots.[1][2][3] The company serves contractors in the $1 trillion earthmoving and $300 billion solar industries, automating tasks like excavation, grading, trenching, and pile driving for projects including wind farms, solar installations, housing developments, and energy infrastructure.[1][2][6] It solves chronic labor shortages, safety risks, and productivity bottlenecks by enabling robots to handle repetitive, hazardous work while skilled operators oversee via remote control, boosting efficiency, utilization, and precision—such as driving solar piles to within 1.0° from plumb and 15mm of design elevation.[3][4][6] With over $114M raised, 30,000+ hours of safe operation across the US and Australia, and partnerships like the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) training 400,000+ members, Built shows strong growth momentum, particularly in utility-scale solar where demand is surging.[3][4]
Built Robotics was co-founded in 2016 in San Francisco by Noah Ready-Campbell, a former Google product manager and software engineer who previously started e-commerce startup Twice, and Andrew Liang.[2][4] Ready-Campbell's inspiration came from his father, a carpenter facing construction labor challenges, sparking the idea to automate heavy equipment.[2] The company kicked off with its first robot, "Mary Anne," in 2017 for grading, demolition, and material handling on projects from community gardens to highways.[3] By 2018, the AI Guidance System launched commercially, enabling autonomous excavators and dozers—like "Rick" for housing pads and prototypes for wind turbine foundations—marking the first fully autonomous heavy equipment deployments in real construction settings.[1][2][3][4] Pivotal expansion followed: trenching robots from 2020 (over 100 miles excavated), international growth to Australia in 2020 with client MPC Kinetic, and a 2023 pivot to solar pile-driving robots (RPD 35 and RPS 25) amid booming clean energy demand.[2][3][6]
Built Robotics rides the construction automation wave amid a global labor shortage, aging workforce, and explosive growth in renewables—solar as the fastest-growing energy source—where traditional methods can't scale $300B+ projects.[3][6][7] Timing is ideal: post-2020 infrastructure booms (e.g., US energy independence push) and AI advancements enable retrofits over bespoke robots, influencing a shift from manual to hybrid jobsites.[1][4][6] Market tailwinds include rising demand for wind/solar farms, housing, and pipelines, plus regulatory ease on private sites; Built accelerates clean energy transitions by bridging workforce gaps, improving productivity/safety, and setting standards for operator upskilling via IUOE.[2][3][4] It shapes the ecosystem by pioneering real-world deployments, advising peers, and proving robotics viability in a $1T industry ripe for tech disruption.[1][2][4]
Built's solar-focused pile-driving robots position it to capture massive utility-scale growth, with fleets scaling 24/7 to meet surging clean energy demand across the US and Australia.[3][6] Trends like AI maturation, renewable mandates, and labor automation will propel expansion into more equipment types and markets, potentially international beyond Australia. Influence may evolve through deeper union integrations, broader infrastructure plays, and ecosystem leadership—transforming craft workers into high-value overseers while Built's robots literally build the world's energy future, echoing its founding vision of intelligent tools for the 21st century.[3][4]
Built Robotics has raised $112.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Built Robotics's investors include Norwest Venture Partners, Tiger Global Management, 1776, BMW i Ventures, DFJ, IVP, Next47, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Lazerow Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Mark Ventures, Tobias Lutke.
Key people at Built Robotics.
Built Robotics has raised $112.0M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $64.0M Series C in April 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1, 2022 | $64.0M Series C | Norwest Venture Partners, Tiger Global Management | |
| Sep 1, 2019 | $33.0M Series B | 1776, BMW i Ventures, DFJ, IVP, Next47 | |
| Oct 1, 2017 | $15.0M Series A | Great Oaks Venture Capital, Lazerow Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Mark Ventures, Tobias Lutke |
