SoftBank invests $200M in Gravis Robotics for autonomous construction software

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-found...