One of Google's youngest engineers and a succession entrepreneur who built hundreds of homes from the age of 16, the Columbia alumnus has set their sights on disrupting the construction industry with AI.
Roop Pal and Puneet Sukhija launched construction startup Bild AI in February. Thursday The $3.1 million seed round was announced led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Mission Street Capital, Ryan Sutton-Gee and Ooshma Garg.
Bild uses AI to read the blueprints and estimates the materials and costs associated with the project. This is now a timely, error-prone process done by hand, Pal said.
The company, which consists solely of Pal and Sukhija, will actively hire engineers to use that species to expand its technology, Pal told BI.
The duo came up with a build idea in a hack of a social impact event in San Francisco and was accepted by the Y Combinator within days of the meeting.
“I was really passionate about the issue of affordable housing,” Pal, who previously worked for Waymo, told Bi. “I have the opportunity to apply my knowledge to computer vision and AI and make a real impact.”
The startup's early clients are key suppliers of the framing, flooring and door businesses, primarily for multifamily homes. The company earns money by charging a subscription fee.
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By reducing construction costs, Pal said the build could also spell out the renter's savings. “If there's a resilient housing market, this cost goes through and people save rent,” he said.
Material analysis is just the first layer of Bild's vision, as new subtrades, such as windows and roofs, are incorporated one by one.
Once that blueprint reading technology becomes more refined, and finally used in the permitting process, PAL is used to capture compliance issues and reduce costs and bureaucratics for residential and non-residential projects.
“If we cut 1% of the costs of a hospital, that's another hospital with the budget we have to build,” he said. “It can really make a huge difference.”
In addition to Bild, AI has also infiltrated other aspects of the construction industry, with companies like Shawmut and Suffolk relying on technologies to improve workers' safety.
