Dusty Robotics, a Mountain View, CA-based developer of robot-powered automation for the construction industry, closed a $5m seed funding round.
The round, which brought total funding to date to $7.2m, was led by NextGen Venture Partners with participation from returning investors Baseline Ventures, Root Ventures, and Cantos Ventures.
Founded in 2018 by seasoned robotics entrepreneurs Tessa Lau and Philipp Herget, Dusty builds automation tools to accelerate the digital transformation of the commercial construction industry. The company’s robots empower onsite crews to work together.
The first product, FieldPrinter, is an autonomous mobile robot that prints layout plans—used to show crews where to build walls and other fixtures—directly onto the floors of job sites. Using layouts created in Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, FieldPrinter streamlines the process of transferring layout plans into the field and enables crews to work accurately, reducing errors and speeding up projects. It is used by contractors and subcontractors, particularly virtual design and construction (VDC) companies.
Dusty began developing FieldPrinter in late 2018 and has continually tested the robot with pilot customers on actual job sites, including several large construction projects. The company plans a wide-scale commercial launch of FieldPrinter in early 2020 to bring layout automation to dozens of construction sites. It will offer the solution as a robot-as-a-service model with pricing based on the size and scope of the building project.
FinSMEs
16/12/2019