AN UNDERGROUND mapping startup has brought in more than £82m from its latest funding round to help bring artificial intelligence to the UK infrastructure industry.
Exodigo – for whom former Crossrail CEO Simon Wright OBE acts as an advisor – will use the capital to invest in its UK and European team and expand its range of scanning products, which accurately identify and categorise underground hazards and assets.
The geospatial specialist uses sensors and AI technology to identify utilities and other underground assets, and has been used successfully on major projects across the UK.
Most recently, the technology was deployed by Colas Rail on its Birmingham Midland Metro Extension project, which extends the current light rail network and will also connect to the Curzon Street HS2 station currently under construction.
With this announcement of the additional round – which takes the overall total of funding past £93m – Exodigo will now expand its teams on the ground in the UK, allowing it to better support some of the nation’s biggest infrastructure projects.
Aurelia Setton, Chief Business Officer of Exodigo, said: “This new round of funding will fuel more strategic investments in the UK and in Europe. Our partners are already seeing the benefits of working with Exodigo, particularly on their ability to deliver projects at scale, on time, within budget, and safely.
“Utility strikes are an issue around the globe, leading to unnecessary emissions, risks, delays and budget overspend, but our solutions locate up to 30% more utility lines than other services, and reduce preliminary digging and trial holes by up to 90%. This funding will open up even more opportunities to scale across new verticals in the UK and in Europe.”
Jointly headquartered in Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv, Israel, Exodigo runs its UK operations out of its London office in Farringdon.
The funding round has been co-led by Greenfield Partners and existing investor Zeev Ventures, and is further backed by existing investors SquarePeg, 10D VC, JIBE and National Grid Partners.
Raz Mangel, partner at Greenfield Partners said: “Exodigo is one of those rare companies that has managed to revolutionize a large market that is difficult to innovate in, by combining breakthroughs on both the software and hardware side in order to create unparalleled technology for non-intrusive underground mapping. The company operates with a unique intensity, leading to incredible market and product velocity.
“The company operates with a unique intensity, leading to incredible market and product velocity. We’re thrilled to partner with Jeremy and the entire Exodigo team to play a part in the next phase of their global expansion as the company makes underground mapping and exploration a reality for the mass market.”
Jeremy Suard, co-founder and CEO, Exodigo, said: “We want to transform the entire built environment and are committed to making underground exploration safer, faster, and more sustainable so our customers can design, dig and build safely with confidence. As the only subsurface imaging company to put AI-interpreted signal processing into practice, Exodigo solves a massive, longstanding problem for industries where what lies underground matters.” For more information about Exodigo, visit www.exodigo.com.
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