Monumental raises $32 million to scale its construction robots to more building sites

Monumental has raised $32 million to deploy more of its autonomous robots across Europe and prepare for its first projects in the United States. 

The Series B funding round was led by Khosla Ventures, with continued backing from existing investors Plural and Hummingbird. Monumental will use the investment to grow its engineering team, expand its fleet and increase the range of construction tasks and materials its robots can handle.

Robots designed for real construction sites

Founded in Amsterdam in 2021 by Salar al Khafaji and Sebastiaan Visser, Monumental combines autonomous robotics with AI-powered software to perform brickwork on active construction sites.

Its compact electric robots use sensors, computer vision and lifting equipment to transport materials and lay bricks and mortar. The machines are coordinated through Atrium, Monumental’s software platform for planning and managing work on site.

Rather than selling its robots, Monumental operates as an autonomous subcontractor. Construction companies commission a finished wall, while Monumental provides and manages the technology needed to build it.

This approach is designed for an industry that can be difficult to automate. Unlike a controlled factory, every construction site brings different surfaces, materials, weather conditions and layouts.

Developed in Amsterdam, tested on the city itself

Amsterdam has been more than Monumental’s headquarters. It has also provided a real-world setting in which to deploy the company’s technology.

Monumental’s robots have worked on projects including a water-retaining canal wall in Amsterdam’s Houthavens. The project brought advanced robotics to a structure closely associated with the city’s historic built environment.

It also illustrates a different side of Amsterdam’s technology ecosystem: AI and software moving beyond digital platforms and into physical infrastructure.

From its Amsterdam base, Monumental brings together robotics, machine vision, software and construction expertise before deploying its technology on working building sites.

Moving from projects to scale

Monumental now has more than 100 robots and has completed work across more than 40 projects for over 20 customers.

Its robots have contributed brickwork to more than 100 homes, as well as a school, hotel, community centre and infrastructure projects. Nearly half of those homes were completed within the past three months, reflecting the pace at which the company is increasing deployment.

“The world simply does not have enough people to build what it needs,” said co-founder and CEO Salar al Khafaji.

The company sees autonomous technology as a way to add capacity to construction teams facing persistent shortages of skilled workers, rather than requiring builders to replace their existing materials or working methods.

Expanding beyond the Netherlands

The new funding will help Monumental deploy more robots across Europe, deepen its activities in the UK and prepare for its first US projects.

The company also plans to recruit additional hardware and software engineers and develop its system to work with a broader range of materials and construction tasks.

For Monumental, the round marks the next step from proving that autonomous robots can operate on real building sites to deploying them at significantly greater scale.

Technology developed and tested in Amsterdam will now be put to work on a growing number of construction projects abroad.