US startup Built Robotics acquires the Roin Technology to accelerate development of automated construction equipment
Built Robotics, an American startup specialising in automation technology for construction equipment, has just announced the acquisition of its compatriot Roin Technologies, also based in San Francisco. Its aim? To expand its activities to new construction stages, going beyond the excavation phase.
Built Robotics is the name behind the Exosystem, an automation solution combined with a software suite, which when attached to a traditional excavator, transforms it into an autonomous robot capable of digging trenches by itself. The automation kit consists of proximity radars, 360° cameras, GPS sensors and an on-board computer. It can be installed on any recent machinery weighing from 15 to 50 tons. The company claims that installation only takes a few hours and the operator can then easily switch from manual to robotic mode.
As for Roin Technologies, it has developed the first electric and autonomous troweling robot, capable of carrying out the work of six workers. Its technology will be integrated into other Built Robotics products.
Built Robotics was founded in 2016 and was backed by incubator Y Combinator. It has raised $112 million funding to date, including $64 million in April 2022.
Dutch startup Eleo looking to electrify fleets of construction machinery
The Dutch startup Eleo is also on a mission to modernise construction equipment. Its angle? Electrification, or rather, the design and marketing of high-tech batteries for machines and vehicles which are the most difficult to electrify.
Its main target is off-highway industrial machines in the construction, agricultural and forestry industries, as well as maritime transport (with cargo transport and last-mile delivery vehicles to vessels at ports).
The startup offers modular batteries that are scalable in size, voltage and capacity, in order to meet customers’ specific needs. Eleo has also developed a propriety battery management system, which provides estimates on the battery’s state of charge, state of health and state of power.
The project first came to life in 2017 as a student project at Eindhoven University of Technology. Since then, Eleo has grown significantly, as the company now has 60 employees and is aiming for 200 within two years. A new 3,000 m2factory is due to open on the Automotive Campus in Helmond. This will increase Eleo’s annual production capacity tenfold, to around 10,000 battery packs, which can collectively store around 500 MWh of power.
With a $120 million valuation, EnergyX wants to reduce building sector emissions
Created in Seoul in 2019, the South Korean startup Energy X has just raised $20.3 million, for a valuation of $120 million. This new funding round led by Shinhan Financial Group brings the startup’s total funding to approximately $31.5 million.
Investors were won over by the value proposition and the company’s initial encouraging results: Energy X is a marketplace that enables the renovation and construction of more energy-efficient buildings, from the design to completion of construction.
The startup is already working with a number of clients, including large conglomerates, such as Hyundai, Naver and Lotte, who want to retrofit their buildings in South Korea. The platform’s userbase includes building owners, construction companies and architects. Since the company was created, the founders have already sealed 573 deals.
Energy X will use the funds to expand its marketplace and energy efficiency tech, grow its team from 86 to 200 employees this year, and launch in Japan.
There’s more…
German building design automation platform Specter Automation raises €2.7 million
American startup Digs raises $7 million with its collaborative platform for construction
US startup Toggle raises an extra $3 million
