TerraFirma

TerraFirma is an Austin, Texas-based, tech-enabled and vertically integrated construction company focused initially on robotic earthworks and site operations. Rather than selling software alone, it performs construction work itself using its own technology, covering mass excavation, land clearing, foundations, grading, grubbing and site demolition, and operating excavators, bulldozers, skid steers, loaders, graders and rollers autonomously, remotely or traditionally. For adjacent scopes such as utilities and concrete, the company works with partner contractors.

The product stack has three layers: Mission Planner, an AI-enabled pre-construction software suite for bidding, planning, simulation and execution; Mission Control, a remote command-and-control center for coordinating live construction operations; and Accelerated Operations, retrofitted heavy machinery that can be remotely operated or run through autonomous workflows triggered by small crews. Safety features include multi-layer protections such as automatic person detection and obstacle avoidance. The company positions the approach as enabling multiple shifts per day, higher labor and equipment utilization, and removal of operators from hazardous environments.

TerraFirma frames its work as a step toward broader U.S. re-industrialization and, longer term, heavy civil infrastructure for a Mars settlement. It states that after earthmoving it intends to address underground utilities, concrete and structural steel. Reported project sectors include housing, energy, transportation, manufacturing and education, and the company says it also works with the U.S. government on international infrastructure and logistics projects.

Founding story

TerraFirma was founded in 2024 by former SpaceX engineers Noah Schochet (CEO) and Noah McGuinness (CTO), who met about a decade earlier on the first day of an engineering class at Princeton University and worked together throughout their undergraduate studies. Both joined SpaceX after graduation — McGuinness on the Starshield government satellite program, Schochet on Starlink and later Starship. At Starbase they observed that the hardest part of the effort was not the rocket but the surrounding infrastructure — roads, power, water, communications and housing — which consumed more time, money and coordination than the spacecraft. The contrast between SpaceX's build cadence and the pace of the construction industry prompted them to apply mass-manufacturing and automation practices to construction.

Business model

Vertically integrated contractor model: TerraFirma is hired to perform earthworks and site operations projects and executes them with its own technology stack and crews, using partners for utilities and concrete scopes. Its technology is deployed on customer job sites, where it both delivers paid work and collects real-world robotics data used to improve its systems.

Sources indicate revenue is generated by performing construction/earthworks projects for commercial, government and nonprofit clients; no pricing, contract values or revenue figures are disclosed in the available sources.

Traction

Technology deployed across multiple job sites, with disclosed 2025-2026 projects including a Starbucks site in North Austin, a nonprofit retreat center in Taylor, a two-story building demolition and grading in Austin, a sports arena in Spicewood and a power substation in New Braunfels. The company reports project activity across housing, energy, transportation, manufacturing and education sectors and work with the U.S. government on international infrastructure and logistics. Built In Austin lists 8 total employees and 13 open Austin-based roles; the company said it plans to hire 300 employees within a year of its July 2026 raise. About half of its engineering team previously worked at SpaceX, Tesla or the Boring Company.

Latest developments

On 14 July 2026 TerraFirma announced approximately $115 million in total funding, including a $100 million Series A led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Glade Brook Capital Partners, BANNER VC, Saga Ventures, Trust Ventures, Definition, PEAK6, Magnetar Capital and Ravelin Capital, plus angel investors from SpaceX, Anduril, Base Power, Shinkei and Hadrian. Proceeds are directed at expanding engineering, manufacturing, operations and construction teams and further developing semi-autonomous heavy equipment systems; the company also said it will hire 300 employees over the next year and build a Texas factory and a mission control center, and that it plans to bid on future Moon projects.