TLDR:
- Monumental, an Amsterdam-based startup, has raised $25 million in a funding round led by venture capital funds Plural and Hummingbird, to develop bricklaying robots that can help address the shortage of skilled brick masons in the construction industry.
- The robots use AI technology and inexpensive robotic parts to work on construction sites, completing tasks at a comparable cost to human bricklayers.
- The Netherlands alone needs 100,000 new houses annually but only has enough construction workers to build 60,000, with a shortage of bricklayers in particular.
- The robots, which are smaller and more adaptable than previous bricklaying robots, can negotiate construction sites and work in collaboration with human bricklayers to speed up projects and offer more design options.
- Monumental plans to use the funding to expand its fleet of robots and grow its staff.
Monumental, an Amsterdam-based startup, has emerged from stealth mode with $25 million in funding to develop bricklaying robots that can help address the shortage of skilled brick masons in the construction industry. The robots use AI technology pioneered in self-driving cars, as well as inexpensive robotic parts, to create robots that can work on almost any new building site at a comparable cost to human bricklayers. The Netherlands needs 100,000 new houses annually, but has enough construction workers to build only 60,000. The robots, which are smaller and more adaptable than previous bricklaying robots, can negotiate construction sites and work in collaboration with human bricklayers to speed up projects and offer more design options.
