Exodigo, which uses sensors and AI to enable mapping of underground spaces, has closed a $105 million Series A funding round, converting $30 million previously secured in simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) arrangements to bring the firm to a total of $118 million in funding since its launch in 2022.
The funding announcement comes just weeks after the company, which has locations in Tel Aviv and San Francisco, was tapped to participate in a U.S. power grid modernization project. It also follows the October 2023 news that Exodigo had earned a “multi-million dollar” investment from National Grid Partners, a venture financing group with connections to the U.K. and U.S. utilities industries.
Regarding the Series A round, the company said it was co-led by Israel-based Greenfield Partners and existing investor Zeev Ventures, with participation from existing investors SquarePeg, 10D VC, JIBE, and National Grid Partners.
The U.S. project seems to have been an important turning point in Exodigo’s efforts to expand globally, and the company said the new capital will help it to further build out its global team, accelerate the development of a self-service product line, and support its expansion into new markets. Exodigo also said it plans to use the funding to increase the depth accuracy and precision of its scans as it readily integrates the latest advances in physics and sensor technology.
With more than 20 million miles of buried pipelines, cables and wires, the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) estimates more than $30 billion in costs due to hundreds of thousands of utility strikes each year across the U.S. alone, and Exodigo calculates that companies spend more than $100 billion each year on unnecessary, and heavy-equipment-dependent, excavation and exploratory drilling. The company aims to rectify that situation with technology that combines multiple types of powerful sensors, 3D imaging, cloud computing simulations and a proprietary AI platform to fuse massive amounts of data into one, easy-to-read map of underground assets and obstacles. Exodigo claims to typically locate 20% to 30% more utility lines than premium locators, and reduce preliminary digging and drilling by up to 90%.
The company garnered early attention and projects in Israel and the U.S,, and is now deepening its presence in Europe, specifically in the UK, France and Italy, while exploring potential partnerships in new markets, Exodigo said. In addition to the U.S. government project, other Exodigo customers include AECOM, Colas Rail, GRDF, HNTB, Houston METRO, HS2, Israel Electric Corporation, LA Metro, National Grid, PG&E, SEPTA, Tel Aviv Metro, and VINCI.
"We want to transform the entire built world and are committed to making underground exploration safer, faster, and more sustainable so our customers can design, dig and build safely with confidence,” said Jeremy Suard, Co-Founder and CEO of Exodigo.
Raz Mangel, Partner, Greenfield Partners, said of the firm’s bet on Exodigo, "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… 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."
Oren Zeev, Founding Partner, Zeev Ventures, added, "Exodigo has taken the underground mapping market by storm and established its platform as the gold standard in comprehensive underground intelligence in just two short years. There was absolutely no question that I would want to double down on my investment based on the overwhelming demand it has been able to rally from top leaders across the utility, transportation and infrastructure communities.”
A SAFE gives an investor in a start-up a right to purchase equity through a future fundraising round.