Dusty Robotics Positioned for Success with Next Generation Printer and Early Adopters

Venture West Preview

Once dubbed Roomba for construction, Dusty Robotics automates the process of multi-trade interior layouts based on revit drawings and selected marks in an interior space. Similar to the way layout is completed manually, Dusty promises greater accuracy, streamlined communication, and better coordination by doing all layout for all the trades in a single pass.

Ahead of our upcoming venture conference in San Francisco, we had the opportunity to meet with Marshall Hawley, Dusty's Head of Training, and Tessa Lau, Founder and CEO of Dusty Robotics, at their Mountain View, CA, headquarters and discuss why they're gaining traction now.

Marshall showed us how he trains contractors to use the robot and gave a quick demo of how the system works. Earlier this year, the firm announced a second generation printer, the FieldPrinter 2. According to the company’s release, the new robot “provides a suite of tools that enable GC's and trade partners to streamline their BIM-to-field workflow by supporting the entire process from design to installation and beyond.”  Importantly, the next generation robot promises to be more nimble and better able to cover the edges of sites.  

How They've Benefitted from the Bay Area Ecosystem

Founded back in 2018, Lau had already spent several years in the Robotics ecosystem in Silicon Valley. She was first with Willow Garage and then served as CTO for Savioke, focusing on personal robotics. Beyond the technical experience garnered in the Bay Area, Dusty is also a good example of a company that has benefitted from the region’s strong venture capital investor sector, and particularly that sector’s interest in investing in “hard tech.” To fuel its development, Dusty has garnered $45 million in funding from leading Bay Area funds, including Scale Venture Partners, Baseline Ventures, Cantos Ventures and Root Ventures.   

Swinerton, DPR and Other Bay Area Construction Companies Also Give Dusty a Boost

Beyond the venture investor ecosystem of funds, Dusty also found early adoption with Bay Area general contractors such as DPR and Swinerton Builders. In the video below, DPR discusses how it was able to benefit from using Dusty on an area hospital project. DPR not only supported the commercialization of Dusty Robotics, but DPR's venture capital arm, WND Ventures, also became a strategic investor in Dusty. One of the first construction companies to create a dedicated venture fund, DPR is one of a number of Bay Area construction companies engaging with local tech companies and providing them valuable real world insights and live job site laboratories for fine-tuning their offerings.

With a new generation offering, Dusty should continue to find more success with contractors throughout the western United States and beyond.