With spring comes green — green trees, green sprouts and greenbacks — as contech firms receive millions in funding to help generate new products and post record revenues. High-profile companies like Elon Musk’s The Boring Co. and small firms alike raked in venture capital funding over the past several months.
Read on to learn more about eight firms with successful investor rounds, ranked from highest to lowest dollar amount.
The Boring Co.
The Boring Co. hauled in a massive Series C funding round of $675 million, led by Vy Capital and Sequoia Capital, the company announced on April 20. The Pflugerville, Texas-based company wants to “solve” traffic through rapid point-to-point transportation and to dig tunnels to alleviate traffic congestion on the surface.
The Boring Co. said it will use the funds to significantly increase hiring across engineering, operations and production in order to build and scale projects like the Vegas Loop and others. It will also accelerate research and development of future products, according to the release.
Veev
San Mateo, California-based modular home builder Veev announced a $400 million Series D funding round led by Bond, with participation from LenX, Zeev Ventures, Fifth Wall Climate Tech and JLL Spark Global Ventures, the company announced in March.
Veev uses pre-built panels to assemble homes on site in a process that emphasizes speed, sustainability and quality. The company claims that it builds homes four times faster than via traditional construction methods, according to the release.
The new capital will allow the company to scale operations, accelerate R&D initiatives, and build additional digital fab production facilities across the country, according to the release.
RenoRun
Montreal, Quebec-based e-commerce platform RenoRun closed a $142 million Series B round co-led by Tiger Global and Sozo Ventures, the company announced in February.
RenoRun offers a marketplace for contractors to find and purchase building materials including lumber, drywall, hardware, paint and more. The company also allows contractors to customize their orders to multiple jobsites.
The company didn’t specify what it would use the money for, but Eamonn O’Rourke, co-founder and CEO of RenoRun, said in the release that the additional funding would allow it to “grow to the next level to be top of mind for each and every contractor across North America.”
Built Robotics
San Francisco-based Built Robotics closed a $64 million Series C funding round led by Tiger Global, the company announced on April 7. Existing investors NEA, Founders Fund, Fifth Wall and Building Ventures also joined.
The company’s main market offering is an upgrade kit, called the Exosystem, which can turn an excavator into a robot. Contractors can rent the Exosystem for an hourly fee and upgrade their excavators on their own, or they can lease pre-upgraded units from the company.
Noah Ready-Campbell, founder and CEO of Built Robotics, said in the release that the capital would be used to increase production to keep up with demand. Ready-Campbell said that the company is also looking into new tech to handle tasks such as backfill, material handling and more.
Diamond Age
Phoenix-based robotics startup Diamond Age raised a $50 million Series A round led by Prime Movers Lab, the company announced in March. Seed investors Alpaca VC, Dolby Family Ventures, Timber Grove Ventures and Gaingels also participated, along with Signia Venture Partners.
Diamond Age uses automation and 3D printing to create housing on demand, and said it aims to make housing more affordable. Currently, Diamond Age is working on 26 robotic end-of-arm tools to offset more than half of the manual labor required to build a new home. The company is also working on additive manufacturing tools that move along a gantry system to layer concrete to “print” a home, according to the release.
The company will use the funding to continue scaling its robotics platform and tackle its first commercial contract, according to the release. The company has already doubled in size and plans to hire more engineering and fabrication professionals.
BeamUp
Tel-Aviv-based AI firm BeamUp launched with a $15 million round of seed investment led by Israel-based StageOne Ventures and U.S.-based Ibex Investors, the company announced on March 30. The investment round was also joined by angel investors such as Workday CEO Chano Fernandez.
BeamUp’s product, BeamUp, is an AI platform that designs and manages enterprise building systems, according to the release. Systems that BeamUp works with include security, IT, IoT, electrical and HVAC. The company claims that customers can reduce time spent on initial design, budget, refurbishment and system change, and also decrease compliance errors.
The seed financing will be used to scale the company’s sales, marketing and operational departments as it expands globally, according to the release.
Rugged Robotics
Houston-based construction robotics firm Rugged Robotics closed $9.4 million in Series A financing led by Bold Capital Partners and construction tech VC firm Brick & Mortar Ventures, the company announced on March 1. Seed investors Riot Ventures, Morpheus and Embark also participated, along with Consigli Construction Company and Suffolk Technologies.
The company’s goal is to use robotics to “modernize” the construction industry, according to the release. Among the offerings is the Mark 1 robot, which the company calls the “layout Roomba” because it roams a jobsite and marks layouts. In order to differentiate itself from the competition, the company’s robot uses stationary targets to achieve the same accuracy as third-party surveying equipment.
With the new funding round, the company will simplify deployment of its product and hire new personnel, according to the release.
Mastt
Sydney-based construction technology company Mastt raised $9.5 million Australian dollar ($6.8 million) less than a year after its seed round, the company announced on March 15. The round was led by VC firm OIF Ventures, with participation from executives at Assignar, another construction technology company focused on scheduling and operations, along with Mastt CTO David Jablonski.
Mastt’s platform, according to the company, allows owners to see real-time project analytics. The tech will allow owners to avoid time blowouts and other significant issues on their projects, according to the release.
Since Mastt’s last investment round, the company has expanded into the U.S. and the Middle East and plans to use the new funding to double its headcount and continue its expansion abroad, according to the release.
