SoftBank Group has poured $200 million into Gravis Robotics, a Swiss startup that turns dumb excavators into semi-autonomous machines. The Series A round, announced on August 17, is the largest ever recorded in the construction robotics sector.
For a company that was spun out of ETH Zurich just four years ago, that is a remarkable leap. Gravis previously raised $23 million in November 2025, meaning this new round represents nearly a ninefold increase in capital in under a year.
What Gravis actually builds
The company’s core product is called the Gravis Rack, a retrofit system that bolts onto existing heavy equipment and layers AI-augmented autonomy on top. Rather than asking construction firms to scrap their fleets and buy entirely new robots, Gravis works with equipment they already own. The system is compatible with machines from Caterpillar, Volvo, and John Deere.
CEO Ryan Luke Johns has said the Rack delivers productivity gains of up to 30% while improving job site safety. In an industry where earthmoving tasks have historically been the biggest bottleneck in project timelines, that kind of efficiency bump translates directly into shorter schedules and lower costs.
The co-founding team also includes CTO Dominic Jud and ETH Zurich robotics expert Marco Hutter.
SoftBank’s construction bet
This deal has a backstory worth noting. In July 2026, SoftBank explored a much larger acquisition of Gravis that could have valued the startup at over $500 million. That deal would have potentially folded the company into a new AI and robotics entity reportedly called Roze.
Instead, the final arrangement landed as a non-acquisitive financial investment. Gravis keeps its independence, SoftBank gets a major stake, and the capital is earmarked for scaling the technology globally to meet growing demand for construction and infrastructure projects.
The competitive landscape
Gravis is not the only company chasing autonomous construction. Built Robotics, based in San Francisco, has also developed retrofit autonomy systems for heavy equipment. Caterpillar itself has invested in autonomous capabilities for its mining trucks. And startups like SafeAI have targeted similar opportunities in earthmoving.
What distinguishes Gravis is its manufacturer-agnostic approach. By designing a system that works across brands rather than being locked to one OEM, the company avoids the chicken-and-egg problem that plagues many hardware startups.
The company has also secured government backing beyond private capital. Gravis has been involved in UK government initiatives, including an $8 million CAM Pathfinder project.