ICON raises $200 million to expand robotic construction technology

U.S. construction technology company ICON announced a $200 million Series D financing round co-led by Baillie Gifford and funds managed by BlackRock. The company reported a valuation of $1.4 billion.

Total funding reached $700 million, CNBC reported. ICON plans to use the new investment to expand production and deployment of its Titan robotic construction system, develop technologies and enter additional U.S. markets.

Titan can build multistorey structures, while the company’s previous technology was designed for single-storey buildings. The system launched commercially in March. ICON says it cuts average homebuilding time by six weeks and costs by 40%. Those are company figures, rather than independently assessed results presented in the announcement.

Based in Austin, ICON operates in Texas, Florida and Washington, D.C. It is now selling its technology to other builders after previously using printers only on its own projects. Co-founder and CEO Jason Ballard also raised the possibility of a future stock market listing without giving a timetable.