Built Robotics

Built Robotics, Inc. is a San Francisco, California-based vehicular automation startup that develops software and hardware to automate construction equipment. Its core product, the Exosystem, is an aftermarket kit installed on the tail of excavators that adds autonomous and remote-control capability to existing heavy equipment through an all-weather enclosure, 360-degree AI-powered cameras, RTK GPS, IMUs, laser rangefinders and a liquid-cooled onboard computer. The company states the Exosystem can be fitted to machines from manufacturers including Caterpillar, Hitachi, John Deere and Volvo, and that it controls machines through their electric-over-hydraulic systems; the system can be switched off so the machine can be operated manually from the cab. A cloud-based command center called Everest monitors, manages and operates the Exosystem remotely, and human operators — termed Robot Equipment Operators — initiate and supervise autonomous work.

Since 2023 the company has concentrated on utility-scale solar construction. The RPD 35 robotic pile driver is built on a modified Caterpillar 335 fitted with an Exosystem, pile-carrying sleds and a custom-engineered vibratory hammer, and is marketed as automating surveying of pile locations, pile distribution, pile driving and as-built generation. Company materials state the RPD 35 carries up to 224 piles with a maximum payload of 34,000 pounds and supports piles up to 19 feet long in cross sections from W6x7 to W8x28, while the companion RPS 25 guides piles to within 1.0 degree of plumb and 15 millimeters of design elevation; robots are said to run in coordinated fleets up to 24 hours a day. Safety is addressed through an 8-Layer Safety System with machine-learning worker detection trained on more than one million images, 360-degree camera coverage and live video.

The company also markets a trenching product line, which it says has excavated over 100 miles of trench on energy projects in the US and Australia, and in 2026 showed the RPK 13 pile-kitting concept robot at CONEXPO. Built holds US patents including "Excavating earth from a dig site using an excavation vehicle," "Obstacle detection and manipulation by a vehicle within a dig site," and "Checking volume in an excavation tool."

Founding story

Founder Noah Ready-Campbell, a former Google product manager who studied software engineering and had previously founded the startup Twice, has said his inspiration came from his father, a carpenter for whom he worked each summer renovating old farmhouses in New England. He has stated he started Built to make new tools to help people build more efficiently and to address infrastructure challenges such as global warming, housing shortages and electrification. The company was co-founded in San Francisco in 2016 with Andrew Liang.

Business model

Built Robotics sells and deploys autonomous heavy-equipment systems to construction contractors. Its Exosystem autonomy kit can be rented as standalone units for installation onto a customer's existing fleet, or customers can lease excavators from Built with the technology already installed. Robots are operated and supervised by human 'Robot Equipment Operators' via the Everest cloud platform, and the company positions data/telemetry and analytics as part of the offering.

Revenue comes from equipment autonomy sold via rental of standalone Exosystem units installed on customer fleets and leasing of Built-upgraded excavators, with associated cloud software (Everest) for fleet monitoring and production data. A third-party profile estimates annual revenue in the $25-50 million range and cites potential expansion into fleet expansion, maintenance packages and data/telemetry offerings.

Traction

Company materials report over 50,000 hours of safe robot operation, 40+ commercial deployments, and zero jobsite injuries, with robots used by contractors in the United States and Australia. Trenching robots are said to have excavated over 100 miles of trench on energy projects. The company reports $114M in capital raised (Wikipedia and a third-party directory report $112M across Series A through C).

Latest developments

In June 2026, Built Robotics announced a research collaboration with xLAB, the Safe Autonomous Systems Lab at Penn Engineering led by Professor Rahul Mangharam, to advance physical AI models for construction; Built said it would combine its large construction robotics dataset with a new purpose-built data-collection robot to develop a world foundation model for safe human-machine coexistence on jobsites. The company also presented the RPK 13 pile-kitting concept robot at CONEXPO (dated 2026 on its timeline) and now markets the RPD 35 alongside the RPS 25 pile driving robot. A third-party profile referenced CEO transitions as part of leadership expansion, though company materials continue to list Noah Ready-Campbell as Founder & CEO.