CivilGrid, a startup that provides a mapping service for underground infrastructure, has successfully raised $26 million in Series A funding. The investment round was led by Spark Capital, with additional contributions from Afore, A*, Ford Street Ventures, SNR, and Energy Impact Partners.
Founded in 2020 by Josh Mackanic, a former Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) engineer, CivilGrid aims to address the challenges of unknown underground utilities. Mackanic noted that a three-day delay due to an unmapped pipe cost PG&E $60,000 in one instance. The company aggregates disparate data on utility assets, property ownership, and environmental regulations, selling access to governments, civil engineering firms, and utility companies, including PG&E.
Christine Cowsert, senior vice president of enterprise business and technology modernization at PG&E, stated that tools like CivilGrid help their teams identify risks earlier and build more efficiently. A case study by PG&E reportedly identified $60 million in avoidable paving costs across 1,600 planned gas distribution projects through the use of CivilGrid.
Mackanic plans to use the new funding to expand CivilGrid's customer base and eventually automate other bureaucratic processes involved in construction in the U.S.