AI construction tech firm Buildots raises another $130M

Artificial intelligence continues to seep into the bedrock of real estate, a development one construction technology startup is trying to seize upon.

Tel Aviv- and Chicago-based startup Buildots raised $130 million in a recent fundraising round, Bloomberg reported. Since its founding eight years ago, the company has raised nearly $300 million and is nearing a $1 billion valuation, according to CEO Roy Danon.

Billionaire (and real estate landlord) Eyal Ofer’s OG Venture Partners led the latest fundraising round. Other participants included Lightspeed Venture Partners and Intel Capital. Buildots, which employs more than 400 people, plans to use the proceeds for products that can tackle more phases of the construction process.

The startup’s platform positions real-world construction progress against schedules and design plans, using AI to find sources of potential delays or problems. The company attempts to accelerate building projects, such as data centers, factories and hospitals.

Clients have included chipmaker Intel, data center builder Digital Realty and construction firms STO Building Group and JE Dunn Construction.

The AI race is impacting every sector of the business world and real estate is no exception. Construction is viewed as particularly ripe for innovation, as lengthy timelines and project delays cost developers tangibly on a regular basis.

Earlier this year, San Francisco-based Bedrock Robotics raised $270 million in a fundraising round, valuing the two-year-old company at $1.75 billion. Participants in the round included the investment arm of Alphabet, the venture arm of Nvidia, the Valor Atreides A.I. Fund and 8VC, a previous investor in the company.

The startup’s ambition is to automate the work of construction vehicles, including multi-ton excavators, in an attempt to speed up the building process. Bedrock aims to expand the use of its technology from excavation to demolition and beyond; its technology can be used on existing equipment, bypassing the need to develop expensive specialized excavators and the like from scratch.

The company is led by Boris Sofman, one of the figures who helped develop Waymo’s driverless cars.

— Holden Walter-Warner