U.S. underground infrastructure data platform CivilGrid has completed a $26 million Series A funding round. The company aims to consolidate dispersed data on underground utilities, land ownership, and environmental restrictions to help engineering teams quickly determine whether a project can proceed before construction begins.
This round of funding was led by Spark Capital.
CivilGrid was founded in 2020, and this round of Series A funding was led by Spark Capital, with participation from Afore, A*, Ford Street Ventures, and SNR. Energy Impact Partners also invested, and its limited partners include multiple utility companies.
The company currently sells platform access to government agencies, civil engineering firms, and utility companies, with PG&E among its customers.
The platform integrates underground asset information.
Founder Josh Mackanic worked for 10 years at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). He said that the direct reason for starting his own business was discovering an unknown pipeline during a construction preparation process; it took the team three days to confirm the pipeline’s ownership and whether it could be connected, resulting in a single delay costing $60,000.
CivilGrid’s core product consolidates previously fragmented data into a single interface, covering underground utility assets, property ownership, and environmental regulatory requirements. Mackanic describes it as the “Google Maps for underground infrastructure,” aiming to help engineering teams identify construction constraints early in the project to reduce rework and delays.
The PG&E case demonstrates space savings.
According to Mackanic, approximately 200,000 incidents of accidental damage to underground utilities occur in the United States each year. The issue is not only due to the complexity of pipelines, but also because different types of utilities are owned by different entities, and related data has long been fragmented.
A case study cited by PG&E showed that, with CivilGrid, approximately $60 million in avoidable paving costs were identified across 1,600 planned natural gas distribution projects. PG&E executive Christine Cowsert said such tools help teams identify risks earlier, improve construction efficiency, and reduce unnecessary expenses.
Mackanic said the company’s next step is not only to expand its customer base but also to automate more of the early-stage processes. In addition to providing data support for site selection, the company may further offer pipeline layout recommendations and assist with preparing and submitting construction permits.