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Bedrock Robotics, an autonomous vehicle technology startup founded by veterans of Waymo and Segment, has been operating quietly for more than a year. Now, it\u2019s breaking cover with an $80 million funding round from investors Eclipse and 8VC. <\/p>\n
Bedrock Robotics is focused on developing a self-driving kit that can be retrofitted to construction and other worksite vehicles, according to the company<\/a>. The announcement confirms some of TechCrunch\u2019s reporting<\/a> in May. Bedrock is \u201cupgrading existing fleets with sensors, compute, and intelligence that understands project goals, adapts to changing conditions, and executes work around the clock,\u201d according to a blog post written by co-founder and CEO Boris Sofman.<\/a><\/p>\n Sofman previously led Waymo\u2019s now shuttered self-driving trucks program. But he\u2019s perhaps best known for his role as co-founder and CEO of Anki Robotics, which made the popular Cozmo consumer robot, and shut down in 2019. Other co-founders include Waymo veterans Kevin Petersen, who is now CTO, Ajay Gummalla, who is a VP of engineering, and Tom Eliaz, who previously worked at Segment and Twilio, is also a VP of engineering.<\/p>\n The company could not be reached for comment. TechCrunch will update this article with new details once Bedrock responds.<\/p>\n Bedrock is the latest company to steer engineers who are adept at robotics, autonomy, and AI toward the off-road environment. Several autonomous vehicle startups have popped up in recent years with an aim to apply their self-driving systems to off-road environments<\/a> like construction, mining, industrial sites, and even defense. <\/p>\n Earlier this week, Pronto, a San Francisco-based startup that has developed a self-driving system designed for haulage trucks and other off-road vehicles used at construction and mining sites, acquired competitor<\/a> SafeAI. Other startups that play in the fragmented and broad sector of off-road autonomy include Kodiak Robotics, Polymath Robotics, Seattle-based\u00a0Overland AI<\/a>, New Brunswick, Canada-based\u00a0Potential<\/a>, and more established companies like Forterra.<\/p>\n Bedrock said it\u2019s focused on construction sites and is testing in Arkansas, Arizona, Texas, and California with five corporations: Sundt Construction, Zachry Construction Corporation, Champion Site Prep Inc., and Capitol Aggregates Inc.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n