Origin Raises $20 Million From Accel and Zacua for Drywall-Finishing Robots
Startups / news
Origin Raises $20 Million From Accel and Zacua for Drywall-Finishing Robots
The San Francisco startup says its OG-1 robot is working at New York sites and targets 150 deployed by the end of 2027; revenue and valuation were not disclosed.
Origin, a robotics startup that has just come out of stealth, raised $20 million in a round co-led by Accel and Zacua Ventures, Entrackr reported. Inc42 put the amount at about ₹189 crore. Neither report gives a valuation, a prior round or revenue.
Unilazer Ventures, Schema Ventures and Z21 also took part, along with angel investors from Anduril, Skild AI, 1X and Tesla, according to both outlets. Vivin Hegde, founding partner at Zacua, has joined Origin's board as a director, Inc42 said. The round is announced; neither report says whether the money has closed in tranches.
What OG-1 does today
Origin's first robot, OG-1, automates wall finishing: applying joint compound, sanding and priming. Taping, drywall installation, drilling and conduit installation are listed as planned additions, per Entrackr. The robots run on what the company calls a Construction Action Model, a foundation model that combines task planning, navigation and tool control.
Inc42 reports that the company claims its robots work three times faster than a human. That is a company claim and neither outlet reports a customer measurement of it.
| Claim | Status as reported | Who says |
|---|---|---|
| Wall finishing (compound, sanding, priming) | Working at New York sites | Company, unverified |
| Taping, drywall install, drilling, conduit | Planned | Company |
| Pilots with two large U.S. drywall contractors | Underway or planned | Company, via Entrackr |
| Pilots in Germany, Sweden, France, Saudi Arabia | Underway or planned | Company, via Entrackr |
| 150 robots deployed | Target for end of 2027 | Company |
The arithmetic of 150 robots
The company was founded in 2025, and Entrackr says the first robots reached New York sites within 10 months. The target is 150 deployed by the end of 2027. Spread across $20 million, that is about $133,000 of funding per robot, before any of it pays for engineers, pilots or a second product. The reports do not say what an OG-1 costs to build or what customers pay.
Entrackr identifies Yogesh Ghaturle as a founder who previously started Perpule, a cloud point-of-sale company that Amazon acquired in 2021; Inc42 calls him cofounder and CEO. Ashish Daga leads hardware and Tushar Makkar leads autonomy, Entrackr said. Ghaturle's ambition, per Inc42, is to automate the full range of interior trades, with wall finishing and painting first.
Who is funding construction robotics
Entrackr cites a September 2026 survey by the Associated General Contractors that found worker shortages delayed projects at 42 percent of surveyed U.S. construction firms. It also cites a report from Zacua, with Hilti Ventures and 94 Ventures, saying construction robotics startups drew $1.36 billion in venture funding in the first three quarters of 2025, against $612 million in all of 2024. Zacua co-led this round, so that report comes from an interested party.
Inc42 adds that the Indian startups Pace Robotics and Flo Mobility are also raising in the field. For another physical-A.I. company raising on a team and a thesis rather than revenue, see our piece on Mind Robotics and Doug Field. The Indian angle here is the founders, not the company: Origin is headquartered in San Francisco. For India's other venture news this week, see Udaan's going-concern note.
The next test is the first named contractor customer. Origin has not named either of the two U.S. drywall finishers it is piloting with.
Sources
More in Startups
- 01Leverage Edu's EBITDA Is ₹2 Crore in Filings, ₹9.5 Crore From SourcesTwo reports on the study-abroad startup's FY26 results differ by ₹7.5 crore on EBITDA, the same gap as between its total income and operating revenue, while a ₹500 crore pre-IPO round is under discussion.
- 02Disney's Estimated Character.AI Payroll Is Three Times Its $20 Million BidA bankruptcy filing reported by Bloomberg puts Disney's offers to at least 60 Character.AI employees at about $60 million a year, while the company's stalking horse bid for its assets is $20 million.
- 03Sebi Clears Cult.fit IPO, Where Sellers Could Take 76% of ₹4,000 CroreThe regulator's Oct. 12 observations let Cult.fit list, but only ₹950 crore of the issue is new money for the company and the full size rests on an unfiled figure.
- 04Benchmark Partners Expect Rival Conflicts as Factory and Cognition FeudThree Benchmark partners told TechCrunch Disrupt that backing competitors is becoming unavoidable, 15 days after Factory accused a board adviser of passing information to Cognition, both of which Khosla Ventures funds.