“At Monumental, we’re working to help the industry meet these challenges,” says co-founder and CEO Salar al Khafaji. From there, another robot spreads liquid mortar and places bricks. I can’t speak much to the efficacy of the system beyond what I’ve seen in some video demos, but can say that the company appears to be tackling the problem from a variety of fronts, beginning with an autonomous cart designed to shoulder heavy payloads. Partnerships with 25 contractors have followed, including low-income housing. Monumental has already been doing limited pilots in its native Netherlands, including the 15-meter exterior of an office building. The startup was founded in 2021 by the pair behind data visualization firm Silk (now a Palantir joint). Amsterdam-based Monumental, meanwhile, specializes in the more familiar red clay variety. firm specializes in building structures out of large concrete masonry blocks. At the moment, Hadrian X is probably the best known player in the space. The other thing construction brings is a wide range of different challenges, meaning that more startups can operate in the space without being in direct competition.īricklaying robots aren’t exactly an untapped concept. Much of that work is strenuous, repetitive and sometimes dangerous - precisely the sorts of problems industrial robotics are built to solve. The industry is valued at around $2 trillion a year, in the U.S. Few categories are as ripe for automation-fueled disruption as construction.