Inside the funding round driving the shift to intelligent construction fleets
Updated
February 7, 2026 2:12 PM
Aerial shot of an excavator. PHOTO: UNSPLASH
Bedrock Robotics has raised US$270 million in Series B funding as it works to integrate greater automation into the construction industry. The round, co-led by CapitalG and the Valor Atreides AI Fund, values the San Francisco-based company at US$1.75 billion, bringing its total funding to more than US$350 million.
The size of the investment reflects growing interest in technologies that can change how large infrastructure and industrial projects are built. Bedrock is not trying to reinvent construction from scratch. Instead, it is focused on upgrading the machines contractors already use—so they can work more efficiently, safely and consistently.
Founded in 2024 by former Waymo engineers, Bedrock develops systems that allow heavy equipment to operate with increasing levels of autonomy. Its software and hardware can be retrofitted onto machines such as excavators, bulldozers and loaders. Rather than relying on one-off robotic tools, the company is building a connected platform that lets fleets of machines understand their surroundings and coordinate with one another on job sites.
This is what Bedrock calls “system-level autonomy”. Its technology combines cameras, lidar and AI models to help machines perceive terrain, detect obstacles, track work progress and carry out tasks like digging and grading with precision. Human supervisors remain in control, monitoring operations and stepping in when needed. Over time, Bedrock aims to reduce the amount of direct intervention those machines require.
The funding comes as contractors face rising pressure to deliver projects faster and with fewer available workers. In the press release, Bedrock notes that the industry needs nearly 800,000 additional workers over the next two years and that project backlogs have grown to more than eight months. These constraints are pushing firms to explore new ways to keep sites productive without compromising safety or quality.
Bedrock states that autonomy can help address those challenges. Not by removing people from the equation—but by allowing crews to supervise more equipment at once and reduce idle time. If machines can operate longer, with better awareness of their environment, sites can run more smoothly and with fewer disruptions.
The company has already started deploying its system in large-scale excavation work, including manufacturing and infrastructure projects. Contractors are using Bedrock’s platform to test how autonomous equipment can support real-world operations at scale, particularly in earthmoving tasks that demand precision and consistency.
From a business standpoint, the Series B funding will allow Bedrock to expand both its technology and its customer deployments. The company has also strengthened its leadership team with senior hires from Meta and Waymo, deepening its focus on AI evaluation, safety and operational growth. Bedrock says it is targeting its first fully operator-less excavator deployments with customers in 2026—a milestone for autonomy in complex construction equipment.
In that context, this round is not just about capital. It is about giving Bedrock the runway to prove that autonomous systems can move from controlled pilots into everyday use on job sites. The company bets that the future of construction will be shaped less by individual machines—and more by coordinated, intelligent systems that work alongside human crews.
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Mainland giants accelerate expansion as local players face unprecedented competition.
Updated
January 8, 2026 6:34 PM
HKTV Mall in Amoy Plaza. PHOTO: WIKIPEDIA USER -WPCPEY
Hong Kong is entering a new phase of competition as mainland platforms accelerate their expansion into the city, turning it into a frontline testing ground for Chinese companies preparing to push into global markets. With retail, logistics and food-delivery businesses all reshaped in the past year, Hong Kong has become the closest international environment where mainland firms can experiment with pricing, supply chains and customer behaviour under a familiar regulatory and cultural framework.
The shift became especially clear this week. At HKTVmall’s Vision Day on November 11, 2025, CEO Ricky Wong warned that Hong Kong’s traditional retail model is facing its toughest moment yet. He said the biggest threat is not mainland competitors like Taobao, JD.com or Pinduoduo entering Hong Kong, but the city’s longstanding dependence on physical shopping. If local retailers do not evolve, he said, they risk becoming “very easy to die of thirst in the desert”. Wong even welcomed the rise of mainland e-commerce giants, arguing that the more players enter the city, the faster consumers will shift online — a transition HKTVmall relies on for growth.
Yet his optimism is layered over a challenging reality. HKTVmall’s own numbers reflect pressure from competition and changing consumer habits. The company reported average daily GMV of HK$22.2 million during the latest shopping festival season — up 2.8% month-on-month but still down 4.3% compared year-on-year — showing that even established online platforms are struggling to maintain momentum as mainland entrants squeeze prices and widen product selection.
The city’s food-delivery market illustrates the shift even more sharply. Deliveroo, once the fastest-growing platform in Hong Kong and at one point holding more than half of the market, officially shut down in April this year after a long decline. Its trajectory mirrored the sector’s upheaval: the company surged during the pandemic but lost ground after restrictions eased, first overtaken by Foodpanda and then pressured heavily by Meituan-backed Keeta, which entered Hong Kong in 2023 and quickly seized about 30% of citywide orders.
Deliveroo’s exit and the handover of parts of its business to Foodpanda did little to stabilise the market. Keeta’s rapid expansion instead pushed Foodpanda onto the defensive, leaving two major players competing in a market shaped by mainland-style pricing and operations. Hong Kong’s delivery sector, once dominated by global firms, is increasingly defined by Chinese platforms optimizing speed and efficiency at a scale few competitors can match.
These changes are unfolding as Chinese companies shift their focus toward new global markets.
With China reducing its reliance on the US and EU and exports steadily moving toward ASEAN, Hong Kong has become a strategic launchpad. The city’s proximity, language familiarity and regulatory structure make it the nearest international setting where Chinese firms can test overseas strategies before expanding into Southeast Asia, the Middle East or Latin America. The result is a competitive intensity that local companies have rarely experienced. Retailers face price pressure they can’t match, local platforms are losing ground to mainland giants and global players are struggling to stay in the game.
Consumers benefit from lower prices, faster delivery and wider choice — but for Hong Kong businesses, the landscape has turned unforgiving. Mainland companies are not treating Hong Kong as a final destination but as the first stop in a broader global push. That positioning is reshaping the city’s entire consumer economy. As more mainland firms look outward, Hong Kong’s role as a testing ground will only deepen and the first players to feel the impact will be those operating closest to the consumer.