A New York-based construction robotics startup that makes prefabricated rebar cages for concrete structures has announced that it has secured $8 million in a Series A funding round. 

The round was led by Tribeca Venture Partners and featured Blackhorn Ventures, Point72 Ventures, New York State, and Twenty Seven Ventures. This follows a $3 million seed round raised in late 2019. 

The company, Toggle, was founded in 2016 by Daniel Blank and Ian Cohen. Toggle automates the rebar assembly process, combining its software with industrial robots and heavy material handling equipment. This allows the company to produce building materials in a safer, more productive, and more precise manner, thus able to deliver them at a lower cost and faster speed. 

"At a time when global construction is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, Toggle offers a way to add capacity while saving time and cost on some of the largest types of projects," said Toggle CEO, Daniel Blank. "We are especially grateful for our partners who are helping us to bring new tools and approaches to the fundamental building block of our built environment with a focus on renewable energy and sustainable urban development."

According to Toggle, the new funding will allow them to scale their production capacity, which includes the opening of a new, 50,000-square-foot production facility and the expansion of the team. The company has stated that it has worked on a wide range of construction projects in North America, including those in the energy, commercial, and residential sectors, along with supplying precast concrete. 

"Reinforced concrete is one of the most consumed products globally, with the rebar process at its core," said Chip Meakem, Managing Partner at Tribeca Venture Partners. "By applying machine learning and robotics to this process, Toggle can massively reduce cost and improve worker safety in this $500B/year market."