SoftBank is betting big on construction’s robotic future. Gravis Robotics has raised $200.0M in a Series A round led by SoftBank Group Corp., the Japanese conglomerate’s first major bet on autonomous heavy machinery.
The startup’s pitch is simple: bolt its system onto any earthmoving machine-excavators, bulldozers, loaders-and it becomes a robot. No custom fleets, no factory overhauls. Just plug-and-play autonomy that promises “superhuman productivity” on job sites. The funding gives Gravis a war chest to scale that retrofit approach, though the company hasn’t detailed specific deployment plans. For SoftBank, it’s a wager that the next wave of automation won’t come from sleek new robots, but from making the world’s existing iron smarter.
