San Francisco-based Buildroid AI is deploying its novel robotics platform to American construction sites, using NVIDIA Omniverse simulations to coordinate multiple robots for entire trade sequences. The startup, which raised $2 million in pre-seed funding, plans first-quarter deployments for blockwork, targeting a $13 billion segment of the global industry.
Why are construction sites, with their repetitive and strenuous tasks, still largely human-dominated? For years, robotic solutions have often been isolated, automating single tasks without fitting into the complex, coordinated dance of a live job site. Buildroid Inc. believes its simulation-first approach is the key to unlocking true automation, and it’s now bringing its platform to the United States after pilots in the United Arab Emirates. The company aims to turn robotics from a high-risk experiment into a predictable, scalable advantage for builders grappling with chronic labor shortages and rising costs.
“America’s construction industry faces many of the same pressures seen worldwide—labor shortages, rising costs, and increasing demand for speed and precision,” stated Slava Solonitsyn, co-founder and CEO of Buildroid AI. The company’s solution is a platform that uses digital twin simulations to plan and orchestrate workflows involving multiple robots before a single machine ever arrives on site. “By running thousands of NVIDIA Omniverse-powered digital twin simulations before ever sending a robot to a job site, we can identify the workflows that deliver the highest impact and ensure viable economics from Day 1,” Solonitsyn told The Robot Report.
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The platform is designed to be vendor-agnostic, compatible with more than 40 robot types, and delivered via a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model. Its initial commercial focus in Q1 2026 will be on automating blockwork and partition-wall installation. Buildroid’s early system coordinates a primary block-laying robot (BLR), a more compact model for residential work, and an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) for material delivery. The next trade slated for automation is plastering. According to The Robot Report, the company uses a shared-savings business model, where it takes 50% of net efficiency gains while committing to specific performance metrics.
The $2 million funding round was led by prominent venture capitalist Tim Draper, founding partner of Draper Associates. “Unlike single-robot solutions, Buildroid’s platform combines the best robotic technologies validated through BIM [building information modeling]-based simulations,” said Draper. “Such an approach empowers builders with scalable, flexible, vendor-agnostic automation that maintains the critical role of skilled human operators.”
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A critical technical component is the platform’s dynamic digital twin, used for both planning and real-time adaptation. Anton Glance, co-founder and chief technology officer of Buildroid, explained that if a robot goes offline or site conditions change, “the digital twin automatically updates the plan and redistributes tasks to keep the project moving with minimal downtime.” Control is achieved through APIs and an on-site edge computer that provides robots with real-time, context-aware guidance. Initially, Buildroid engineers will supervise deployments, with a long-term goal of having one human supervisor oversee an entire AI-orchestrated robot fleet.
For a $17 trillion global industry notoriously slow to adopt new technology, Buildroid’s simulation-first, multi-robot approach represents a significant shift. It’s not just about replacing a single task but re-engineering the workflow of an entire trade sequence. By proving the economics and reliability through simulation before breaking ground, Buildroid is betting it can finally bring the robotics revolution to the construction site at scale.
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