A British tech startup that provides augmented reality (AR) goggles for builders to help construction teams work accurately has raised £20 million to fuel a global expansion.
XYZ Reality, founded in 2017 by former builder David Mitchell, aims to "set a new standard" in the construction sector. His team has spent years developing "HoloSite" tech for devices that can be attached to workers' safety helmets and show 3D holograms of schematics and building plans.
The startup says its tech can help developers deliver projects on time and on budget.
Errors in the building process currently cost developers up to £25 billion per year in the UK alone, it says. XYZ Reality products have already been snapped up for use on complex site projects with a value of over £1.5 billion.
The funds, secured in a Series A round led by Cazoo and Depop backer, Octopus Ventures, will be used to launch commercially in the US, for continued development, and to grow the startup's London team.
XYZ reality is also partnering with global consultancy and construction firm, Mace, for the construction of a hyper-scale data centre in Europe.
Octopus Ventures' Rebecca Hunt said VCs believe XYZ is uniquely placed to drive transformation in the sector.
Mitchell said: “We’ve developed the world’s first Engineering-Grade AR solution helping construction teams identify errors in real-time, but really that’s just the start of our journey.
“The next phase is Assisted Reality, where our spatial computing technology will have the intelligence to automatically detect and report issues in the field... Ultimately, the goal is builders building from holograms.”
