Founded by ex-Waymo leaders, the San Francisco start-up is bringing proven autonomous driving expertise to construction, retrofitting existing heavy machinery to tackle America’s deepening infrastructure and workforce crisis.
The US construction industry has long been defined by its hands-on labour, muscle-bound machines and tight project timelines. But with a growing shortfall of skilled workers, unprecedented demand for infrastructure and manufacturing facilities, and mounting pressure to improve safety, the sector is on the cusp of one of its biggest technological shifts in decades.
Into this landscape steps Bedrock Robotics — a San Francisco-based autonomous technology start-up led by some of the brightest minds from Waymo’s pioneering self-driving programme. The company emerged from stealth this week with a total of US$80 million in Seed and Series A funding from backers including Eclipse, 8VC, Two Sigma Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, NVentures, Crossbeam Venture Partners, Raine Group, Tishman Speyer, Atreides Management, Al Rajhi Partners and Samsara Ventures — signalling investor confidence that construction’s long-awaited automation revolution is finally here.
A crisis in the making
America is building again — and fast. The reindustrialisation push has ignited a wave of factory construction, data centre developments and housing projects. In 2024, investment in US manufacturing facilities hit a record US$238 billion, with vast projects breaking ground from Texas to Arizona. But the workforce is straining under the load. The Associated Builders and Contractors estimate a shortage of 500,000 construction workers, and 40% of the current workforce is expected to retire in the next decade, threatening to widen the gap.
In this environment, 1.25 billion hours are spent annually operating heavy equipment — an area ripe for automation. With a US$13 trillion global construction industry and rising labour costs, the opportunity for retrofit-friendly autonomy is enormous.
The Bedrock solution
While many robotics start-ups design bespoke autonomous vehicles or machinery, Bedrock takes a different approach. Instead of replacing existing fleets, it installs reversible, same-day hardware and software upgrades to transform traditional heavy machinery into autonomous workhorses. Its flagship product, the Bedrock Operator, integrates with existing machines — starting with excavators — enabling them to run without human operators but allowing a return to manual mode within hours if needed.
The Bedrock Operator’s retrofit installation process is quick and flexible. A perception suite of cameras, lidar and radar continuously scans the environment, detecting obstacles, workers, vehicles and site boundaries. An autonomy stack, trained on thousands of hours of earthmoving data, enables precision digging, grading and material handling, even in unpredictable terrain. A dedicated safety layer employs hazard detection, redundant systems and geofencing to ensure safe operation, with remote override available. Fleet integration tools give managers real-time dashboards for monitoring and task assignment, while continuous learning feeds operational data back into AI models to improve performance.
According to co-founder and CEO Boris Sofman, the technology is not about removing people entirely but about extending capability and flexibility: “The construction industry is facing so much pressure with the soaring demand for new factories and data centres, the housing crisis, and the mandate for re-industrialisation in the U.S. The only way to rise to the occasion is by empowering construction teams with advanced automation they can trust. Together with our partners in the industry, we’re ushering in a new era where autonomy and intelligence supercharge building, which will benefit both contractors and society.”
From roads to construction sites
Bedrock’s founding team brings a rare pedigree. Sofman is joined by CTO Nathaniel Fairfield, former Technical Lead for self-driving software at Waymo; CPO Adam Bercu, former Waymo operations lead; and Chief Software Architect Calvin French-Owen, co-founder of Segment. Three of the four have senior leadership experience at Waymo, including heading its trucking programme. This experience in robotics and autonomy for unpredictable environments — such as public roads — is now being applied to the even messier realities of construction.
John Krafcik, former Waymo CEO and early Bedrock investor, said: “What Bedrock is doing is truly next level. While others are focused on moving dump trucks from point A to B, Bedrock is using advanced AI to actually shape the earth itself. Led by one of Waymo’s original technical leaders — someone who helped bring full autonomy to public roads — they are now applying that experience to revolutionise how we build the world.”
An industry-first retrofit approach
This model tackles one of construction’s biggest automation hurdles: the cost of replacing fleets. Project-based work means companies can equip and deploy Bedrock Operators where needed, then move them elsewhere, avoiding the capital outlay for dedicated autonomous equipment.
Proving it in the field
The system is already in use on active sites in Arizona, Texas and Arkansas. On a major highway expansion outside Phoenix, Sundt Construction deployed Bedrock Operators on two excavators, moving 40,000 cubic yards of earth in the first month, including overnight shifts, without loss of productivity. Eric Cylwik, Director at Sundt Construction, said: “When a technology proves its value in the field, this industry will pick it up fast.” He noted that the technology helped recover nearly half the time lost to earlier labour shortages — a “game-changer” for future resourcing.
Bedrock is also working with Texas-based Zachry Construction, Champion Site Prep and Capitol Aggregates, representing a cross-section of infrastructure and civil engineering markets.
Safety and regulation
is embedded in the design, with geofencing, hazard detection, redundant systems and immediate halt capabilities if hazards are detected. Remote override is always available. Bedrock is actively collaborating with regulators to develop safety standards for autonomous machinery on live job sites.
The investment case
For Aidan Madigan-Curtis, partner at Eclipse, the founders’ track record was decisive: “There are only a small handful of people who can introduce autonomy to a new industry with real credibility — and Boris and the Bedrock Robotics founding team are those people. We’re at a unique moment in technology history where autonomy can be productised for industries that truly need it.”
Alex Kolicich, Founding Partner at 8VC, added: “I’ve long been a robotics sceptic, but Bedrock Robotics was the first company I saw that had it all: the right team, a truly compelling problem that can uniquely be solved today, and a massive market opportunity. At a time when rebuilding America is front and centre, Bedrock Robotics’ automation platform is poised to be the workhorse of the new American economy — boosting productivity, driving resilience, and raising wages where it matters most.”
Why it matters beyond construction
Faster builds mean faster delivery of manufacturing plants, data centres and housing — key to keeping the US competitive. For Sofman, this is about national capability as much as commercial success: “The countries that figure out how to build faster, safer and more cost-effectively will lead the next industrial era.”
Looking ahead
Bedrock aims to hit its target for fully operator-less deployments by 2026, potentially reshaping how America builds in the process. With a retrofit model, proven leadership from autonomous driving, and a rapidly expanding market underpinned by workforce shortages, the company is positioning itself not just as a tool for contractors, but as a critical enabler for the nation’s industrial ambitions.
