TerraFirma, an Austin, Texas company founded by former SpaceX engineers, announced a $100m Series A led by Kleiner Perkins on 14 July 2026. The round is part of about $115m raised in total.
Bain Capital Ventures, Glade Brook Capital Partners, BANNER VC, Saga Ventures, Trust Ventures, Definition, PEAK6, Magnetar Capital and Ravelin Capital also invested, as did angels from SpaceX, Anduril, Base Power, Shinkei and Hadrian. TerraFirma did not disclose a valuation, revenue or contract values.
What TerraFirma does
TerraFirma describes itself as a vertically integrated construction company for critical infrastructure. It retrofits excavators, dozers, loaders, rollers, skid steers and other heavy machines so operators can run them from screens instead of the cab, with a remote command centre and pre-construction software. It claims each operator becomes up to 300% more effective, which is a company figure.
Chief executive Noah Schochet and chief technology officer Noah McGuinness met at Princeton and worked on Starlink, Starshield and Starship at SpaceX. The company was founded in 2024.
Projects and approach
TerraFirma works as a contractor as well as a technology developer. Its jobs include site preparation, excavation and grading for a new Starbucks in north Austin, a sports arena in Spicewood and a power substation in New Braunfels, plus infrastructure and logistics work for the US government.
McGuinness said the aim is not to fully automate construction equipment. Schochet said the technology built for construction on Earth will be highly reusable beyond it, which explains the company's "Earth and beyond" framing.
Who invested
Josh Coyne, a partner at Kleiner Perkins, said remote and semi-autonomous operation is clearly where the industry is headed. SiliconANGLE, which also covered the round, reported that Kleiner pointed to the company's real-world scale, its business model and its government and commercial contracts.
What the money is for
The company said it will expand its engineering, manufacturing, operations and construction teams and keep developing its semi-autonomous heavy equipment. SiliconANGLE, citing CNBC, reported plans to hire 300 workers over the next year and to build a new facility to orchestrate customer vehicles. Earlier funding and current headcount were not stated.
The platform in detail
The company's platform has three parts: AI-enabled pre-construction software, a remote command-and-control centre and retrofitted semi-autonomous machinery. Operators watch screens and direct fleets from outside the cab.
McGuinness said driving real change requires building a whole ecosystem of technology, as quoted by SiliconANGLE. Schochet said the technology built to solve problems on Earth will be highly reusable beyond it, which links to the company's pitch of building for the Earth and beyond. TerraFirma has not said how many machines it operates or what its contracts are worth.
Company website: terrafirma.inc