Blog

The funding round was co‑led by UK investor IQ Capital and Zacua Ventures, with participation from Pear VC, Imad (the corporate venture arm of Saudi contractor Nesma & Partners), Sunna Ventures, Armada Investment and building materials group Holcim. Gravis said the capital will be used to accelerate international rollout, hire staff and expand partnerships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), contractors and dealers.

Earlier this year, NCE attended a trial at Manchester Airport where Gravis tested its new autonomous excavators in collaboration with Taylor Woodrow. The company says these are the UK’s first large‑scale use of autonomous excavation on an active construction site.

Gravis retrofits hydraulic excavators and other heavy plant with sensors, software and machine‑control systems that allow semi‑autonomous or autonomous operation. The company says its system uses a combination of LiDAR, cameras, GNSS and hydraulic‑based sensing to adapt to varying ground conditions, and is controlled through a tablet interface called Slate that is intended to integrate with site workflows.

Gravis has announced a number of commercial links that it says put the technology on live projects in several regions. As well as the aforementioned Taylor Woodrow project, Holcim is using Gravis’ autonomous handling systems for quarry duties, including site preparation, stockpile management and loading.  Meanwhile, the robotics firm has integrated its kit with Develon machines in the UK and with Swiss contractor Kibag.

The firm has also struck a distribution‑style deal with Flannery, the UK’s largest plant hire provider, to offer excavators fitted with Gravis’ retrofit rack via rental packages. Gravis says it is now live in seven countries across the UK, EU, US, Latin America and Asia, and that its footprint spans both mixed‑fleet and OEM‑integrated equipment.

Gravis markets its platform as a productivity and safety tool rather than a replacement for operators, claiming typical output increases of around 30%, reduced rework and improved safety. Contractors quoted in the company release, including Morgan Sindall Construction, described the robotic excavator as performing at least as well as skilled drivers in some tasks and improving team efficiency.

Those performance figures, if borne out across a wide range of sites, would be significant for the global earthmoving and mining markets, which industry analysts value in the trillions of dollars. Gravis’ founders say the company’s European base and regulatory experience give it an advantage when scaling internationally: many European contractors operate cross‑border and must meet stringent standards, which can serve as a testing ground for new technology.

Autonomy for construction plant has been an area of growing interest as the sector faces labour shortages, tightening productivity and pressure to cut costs. Several startups and OEMs are developing retrofit or factory‑integrated autonomy solutions for excavators, loaders and haul trucks. Successfully moving from pilot projects to large‑scale deployment, however, requires navigating complex site safety rules, fleet maintenance practices, rental market dynamics and contractor procurement processes.

With the new funding, Gravis plans to expand its team and distribution arrangements and continue rolling out its retrofit racks and OEM integrations. The combination of capital, partnerships and deployment sites positions the company to attempt a wider commercial push into the UK, US and European construction markets over the next 12–24 months.

Gravis Robotics CEO and co-founder Ryan Luke Johns, said: “The fastest path to autonomy is delivering productivity today. By giving operators real-time 3D intelligence and the ability to shift seamlessly between autonomy and augmented control, we cover more of the work, accelerate adoption, and create the data pipeline needed to learn new capabilities from the industry’s hardest jobs.”

IQ Capital partner Archie Muirhead said: “Gravis stands out, not just for its technical brilliance, but for how much it’s already achieved. The team’s thoughtful, grounded approach to autonomy – deploying real systems with real crews – has led to trusted partnerships with some of the largest global construction companies and OEMs and invaluable data from time-in-field. This huge and unserved market is ready now for autonomy and Gravis is setting the pace.”

Zacua Ventures general partner Juan Nieto said: “Gravis embodies the kind of innovation our industry has been waiting for: autonomy that truly works in the field. Built on deep ETH Zurich research and driven by a top-notch team, they’re already delivering productivity gains customers can feel. The enthusiasm from our global investor base of leading builders, operators, and equipment groups is the clearest validation of how transformative Gravis’s technology can be.”

Morgan Sindall Construction technical director Steffan Speer said: “Construction faces major challenges, from attracting and retaining a skilled workforce to improving productivity. The industry has often been seen as slow to adopt new technologies. Working with Gravis Robotics, we’re changing that.”

Holcim Maqer Ventures head Bengt Steinbrecher said: “Digital automation and robotics are technologies Holcim has employed for many years to enhance our operational efficiency, productivity and safety. Gravis is a leader in its field, and we see significant opportunities to apply their solutions in our markets. We look forward to bringing its technology to market at scale.”

Taylor Woodrow managing director Phil Skegg said: “Innovation is really important to Taylor Woodrow because we have to become more productive, fundamentally it’s about making sure we remain relevant not just for today but for tomorrow and that’s why we have engaged with Gravis Robotics.”

Like what you’ve read? To receive New Civil Engineer’s daily and weekly newsletters click here.