Revolutionizing Construction: How This Startup’s Autonomous Excavators Unearthed $600M in Funding
Bedrock Robotics has successfully secured $600 million in its latest funding round, elevating the valuation of the autonomous vehicle technology firm to $4.1 billion, a remarkable achievement for the young company, which is just two years old.
This Series C funding, backed primarily by CapitalG and Emergence Capital, comes shortly after Bedrock reached a significant achievement by advancing its autonomous excavators from testing phases to operation on actual construction sites.
The startup has created a self-driving kit that can be integrated into various construction vehicles. Currently, excavators equipped with Bedrock’s technology are actively working at a water treatment facility in Nevada, a site managed by Champion Site Prep in Texas, and a large-scale civil project with Zachry Construction Corporation.
Since its inception in 2024, Bedrock Robotics has raised almost $1 billion, founded by experts in the autonomous vehicle and robotics sectors. Co-founder and CEO Boris Sofman previously directed Waymo’s discontinued self-driving truck initiative and co-founded Anki Robotics, known for its Cozmo consumer robot, which ceased operations in 2019.
Key co-founders include Kevin Peterson, Bedrock’s chief technology officer, and Ajay Gummalla, who is the company’s vice president of engineering and infrastructure. Tom Eliaz, a former employee at Segment and Twilio, also joins as a co-founder and VP of engineering and hardware.
The newly acquired funds will facilitate Bedrock’s further transition to commercial applications, enabling the rollout of its technology across additional construction sites while expanding both team size and necessary infrastructure to better assist clients on-site.
In a statement, Sofman expressed, “We have demonstrated that fully autonomous excavators can provide substantial value alongside existing teams and workflows on job sites. Our next goal is to deliver this capability reliably to more contractors as an integral part of project execution.”
The startup is focusing on autonomous excavators, partly due to a significant shortage of skilled operators. Mastery of excavator operation typically takes five years or longer, and a considerable number of construction workers are nearing retirement age. According to the Associated Builders and Contractors, over 40% of construction personnel are expected to retire within the next five years.
Bedrock is optimistic that the construction sector will increasingly leverage autonomous technology to mitigate this labor shortage.
Among its new partnerships is Haydon, a general contractor from Arizona that intends to deploy Bedrock-equipped machines for various projects, including advanced manufacturing sites, water and wastewater management, data centers, and healthcare facilities.
This funding round also attracted new investors, including US Innovative Technology Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Temasek, along with continued support from existing investors such as 8VC, Georgian, Valor Equity Partners, Xora, Eclipse, Perry Creek Capital, and Nvidia.
Additionally, as Bedrock expands its commercial operations, it announced two key executive appointments. Amy Jones Satrom, who has extensive experience with Amazon, Nuro, and Uber, will take on the role of vice president of operations. Lando Juarez, who previously served as head of legal for Uber’s autonomous mobility and delivery division, has been brought on as general counsel.
