TerraFirma raises $115M to build robotic infrastructure for construction

Anduril — terraFirma’s semi-autonomous excavator at work. | The startup said the investment will enable it to expand its engineering, manufacturing, operations, and construction teams, as well as to continue developing its semi-autonomous heavy equipment.

“Construction is the foundation everything else is built on, and it’s been going backward for 50 years,” said Noah Schochet, co-founder and CEO of TerraFirma. “America built the transcontinental railroad, the interstate highway system, and the Hoover Dam. There’s no reason we can’t build at that scale again, and there’s no first-principles reason construction can’t become 10x faster, cheaper, and safer. TerraFirma exists to help America build again and then take that capacity into the cosmos.” Kleiner Perkins led the round. It also included participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Glade Brook Capital Partners, BANNER VC, Saga Ventures, Trust Ventures, Definition, PEAK6, Magnetar Capital, and Ravelin Capital. Angel investors include founders, executives, and engineers from companies including SpaceX, Anduril, Base Power, Shinkei, and Hadrian. Former SpaceX engineers Schochet and Noah McGuinness founded TerraFirma in 2024. It is a tech-enabled, vertically integrated construction company initially focused on robotic earthworks and site operations. The Austin, Texas-based company builds and uses its own robotics and software in the field. Construction industry needs to get the most from labor Physical infrastructure, from roads to power grids to homes, factories, and hospitals, is the foundation of civilization. Yet construction is one of the only major industries where productivity has gone backward, asserted TerraFirm. Since 1965, labor productivity in U.S. construction has fallen at an average rate of 0.6% per year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce and Goldman Sachs. At the same time, productivity across the broader economy has grown at roughly 1.6% annually.