Gravis Robotics Secures $23M To Scale Its Autonomous Earthmoving Technology

The company also announced several new industry partnerships that deepen its role in transforming global construction.

Founded in late 2022 as a spinout from ETH Zurich, Gravis tackles the construction industry’s core challenges rising demand, declining productivity, and an ageing workforce by boosting output without changing established workflows. Its retrofit autonomy system uses AI and learning-based control to adapt to real ground conditions, “feeling the soil” through hydraulic, LiDAR, camera and GNSS data.

This core intelligence connects to Gravis Slate, a tablet interface built to slot seamlessly into existing construction workflows. The same sensor suite that powers autonomous operation also enhances manual work, creating a continuous data loop that drives performance improvements and accelerates the scaling of autonomy.

Read Also - 6 Degrees Capital closes €154 million venture fund

Engineered for real-world variability across trenching, earthworks, grading, and material handling, Gravis’s system is designed to augment not replace human crews, delivering roughly 30% higher output, reduced rework, and improved on-site safety.

Ryan Luke Johns, CEO and co-founder of Gravis Robotics, noted that the most effective path to autonomy begins with improving 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.

Gravis systems are already operating with major construction firms, supporting site preparation, stockpile management, and the loading of trucks and screeners. Most recently, the company was deployed by Taylor Woodrow at Manchester Airport, marking what is described as the UK’s first large-scale use of autonomous excavation on an active construction site.

Gravis is also partnering with Flannery to offer turnkey excavators equipped with the Gravis Rack, and is expanding similar models through OEM dealer networks, including Develon in the UK and Kibag in Switzerland.

Following this expansion, Gravis is now active in seven countries across the UK, EU, US, LATAM, and Asia, marking one of the widest global deployments of autonomous excavation technology across both mixed-fleet and OEM-integrated machinery. The company is also bringing autonomy into the earthmoving equipment rental market, widening access for contractors of all sizes.

With its latest funding, Gravis plans to advance its autonomy stack, scale industry partnerships, and utilise global distribution channels to accelerate the large-scale rollout of autonomous earthmoving solutions worldwide.

About Gravis Robotics

Gravis Robotics transforms any earthmoving machine into an autonomous, high-performance robot. Its plug-and-play retrofit system boosts productivity, enhances safety and adapts to real ground conditions using advanced AI and sensor fusion. Built for seamless integration into existing workflows Gravis empowers construction teams to achieve superhuman efficiency with minimal disruption.