Gravis Robotics, a Switzerland-based earthmoving autonomy platform, has secured $23 million in new funding, co-led by IQ Capital and Zacua Ventures, with additional participation from Pear VC, Imad (CVC of Nesma & Partners), Sunna Ventures, Armada Investment, and Holcim. Moreover, the company has announced several new industry partnerships that further solidify its role in transforming global construction.
Founded in late 2022 as a spinout from ETH Zurich, Gravis addresses major structural challenges in the construction sector—including rising demand, declining productivity, and an aging workforce—by enhancing output instead of overhauling existing processes. Additionally, the company leverages its team’s expertise in AI and autonomy to power its retrofit system, which goes beyond simple command-based operation and adapts to real ground conditions through a learning-based control system that “feels the soil” using data from hydraulics, LiDAR, cameras, and GNSS.
Furthermore, this core intelligence connects to Gravis Slate, a tablet interface designed to integrate seamlessly with existing construction workflows. The same sensor suite that enables autonomous operation also enhances manual work, creating a continuous data loop that supports performance improvements and accelerates the growth of autonomous capabilities.
Gravis designs its platform to handle diverse site conditions across trenching, earthworks, grading, and material handling. Consequently, the system complements human teams rather than replacing them, delivering approximately 30 percent gains in output, reducing rework, and improving safety.
Ryan Luke Johns, CEO and co-founder of Gravis Robotics, emphasized that the most effective path to autonomy starts with productivity improvements 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.”
In practice, major construction companies already use Gravis systems for site preparation, stockpile management, and loading of trucks and screeners. Most recently, Gravis supported Taylor Woodrow at Manchester Airport in what is described as the UK’s first large-scale use of autonomous excavation on an active construction site.
The company is also partnering with Flannery to offer turnkey excavators equipped with the Gravis Rack, and OEM dealer networks—including Develon in the UK and Kibag in Switzerland—are deploying similar models.
Following this expansion, Gravis Robotics now operates in seven countries across the UK, EU, US, LATAM, and Asia. As a result, the company represents one of the broadest deployments of autonomous excavation technology globally, spanning both mixed-fleet and OEM-integrated equipment, and bringing autonomy directly into the earthmoving equipment rental market.
With its newly secured funding, Gravis Robotics plans to advance its autonomy technology, expand and strengthen industry partnerships, and use existing global distribution channels to support the widespread deployment of autonomous earthmoving solutions.
