Self-driving excavators dig up $600M in funding
A startup’s autonomous machines are now more valuable than the earth they move.
The story
A startup called Bedrock Robotics has raised $600 million in funding, valuing the company at $4.1 billion, after deploying self-driving excavators on active construction sites.
Source: techcrunch.com
Our reading
The startup’s excavators are now digging in real-world construction sites, but the real work seems to be in raising capital. A company that builds self-driving machines for digging is now digging up millions in funding, which is less about excavation and more about the financial equivalent of a bulldozer through a budget.
It’s not clear if the excavators are digging up dirt or just the company’s own financial reports. Either way, the machines are proving their worth in the eyes of investors, who are more interested in the future of construction than the current state of the earth.
The real question is whether the machines will ever need a break, or if they’ll keep digging until the money runs out.
