The company will use the funding to expand its team and accelerate on-site deployment of Sitegeist’s robots to meet customer demand driven by Europe’s large infrastructure renovation backlog.
Munich-based construction robotics startup Sitegeist has raised €4 million in a pre-seed funding round co-led by b2venture and OpenOcean, with participation from UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators and several angel investors, including Verena Pausder, Lea-Sophie Cramer, Alexander Schwörer, and additional strategic backers from the construction and robotics sectors.
Across Europe, ageing bridges, tunnels, parking facilities, and public buildings require major renovation. In Germany alone, the repair backlog amounts to hundreds of billions of euros, with similar challenges seen in North America and other regions. Labour shortages and the physically demanding nature of concrete repair make projects costly, hard to staff, and difficult to scale.
Concrete renovation is particularly complex and capacity-constrained. Removing deteriorated concrete using high-pressure water or abrasive blasting requires precision and close supervision to avoid damaging steel reinforcement. Because the process is largely manual and site-specific, construction companies often face low efficiency, rising safety demands, and significant project backlogs.
Sitegeist aims to address these challenges with modular automated robots designed for unstructured construction environments. Unlike conventional automation systems that rely on pre-existing 3D models or standardised site conditions, the company’s robotic systems are built to operate directly on existing structures.
Using advanced sensing, AI-based decision support, and adaptive control, they can handle complex geometries and varying material conditions without prior digitisation, enabling deployment on active renovation sites.
Building on this approach, Dr Lena-Marie Pätzmann, co-founder and CEO of Sitegeist, said that infrastructure renovation, particularly concrete repair, is facing a major bottleneck. She explained that deteriorated concrete is still removed through labour-intensive methods that are difficult to scale, and that Sitegeist is addressing this challenge by developing specialised, modular automated robots capable of performing renovation tasks directly on existing structures.
The company works closely with concrete renovation firms on-site and is developing a modular platform intended to expand across the renovation value chain over time. Looking forward, Sitegeist plans to collaborate with additional test sites, co-development partners, and new talent to further validate and refine its robotic systems.
The new funding will support team expansion and accelerate the deployment of Sitegeist’s automated, AI-enabled robots on real-world construction sites, helping concrete renovation companies address ongoing capacity constraints.