Utility robotics startup Quarry Robotics raises $48 million Series B to scale inspection-as-a-service
Sofia Reyes ·
Quarry Robotics, a New York based startup that builds autonomous robots for utility and pipeline inspection, closed a $48 million Series B on Tuesday. Pioneer Peak Capital and Arcadia Ventures co-led the round with participation from Riverline Capital, Catalyst Labs, and Summit Grid, the company said, to expand manufacturing and grow its recurring inspection services.
The deal lands as utilities face rising regulatory pressure to reduce leaks and outages, which has pushed buyers toward outcome based contracts with measurable savings. Investors are gravitating to robotics platforms that pair hardware with software and maintenance subscriptions, which can convert pilots to multi year service agreements.
Quarry sells inspection as a service. Customers pay annual fees for deployments that combine ground robots, sensor payloads, and cloud analytics that flag anomalies in gas and water networks. The company said it will use the capital to add production capacity in New Jersey and to broaden coverage to electric distribution assets.
Founders Maya Chen and Luis Ortiz previously led autonomy and perception teams at Boston Dynamics and a Northeast utility, respectively. Quarry reports 38 customers across gas, water, and district heating, with average contract value at $420,000 and net revenue retention of 134 percent over the past year. Gross margins on the service line are 71 percent, the company said, while hardware is sold at cost to drive fleet deployment.
Pioneer Peak partner Daniel Ko said the firm underwrote against unit economics tied to avoided leak penalties and reduced truck rolls. Ko said breakeven on a standard deployment is under 11 months based on verified customer data. Arcadia’s thesis centers on regulatory catalysts and the shift from capex projects to opex funded reliability programs at utilities.
Quarry competes with legacy inspection firms and niche robotics providers that sell equipment but do not operate fleets. The startup pitches differentiation through autonomy in GPS denied environments and a software layer that integrates with utility work order systems, which it says reduces false positives and technician time per alert.
The round underscores a broader VC rotation into applied automation with contracted paybacks and regulatory tailwinds. As AI funding crowds into foundation models and agent frameworks, investors are seeking industrial workflows where software margins sit on top of repeatable field operations and where retention is tied to compliance and safety outcomes.