What TerraFirma does

TerraFirma is a construction technology and services company headquartered in Austin, Texas, founded in 2023 by former SpaceX engineers Noah Schochet (CEO) and Noah McGuinness (CTO). The company develops and operates an integrated platform for autonomous and remote-operated earthmoving, combining AI-enabled software with retrofitted heavy machinery to deliver construction services rather than standalone software licenses. Its three core products—Mission Planner (an AI-enabled pre-construction suite for bidding, planning, simulation, and execution), Mission Control (a remote command-and-control center for coordinating distributed job sites), and Accelerated Operations (excavators, bulldozers, skid steers, loaders, graders, and rollers retrofitted for autonomous or remote operation)—form a human-in-the-loop autonomy stack supported by a multi-layer computer-vision safety system for person detection and obstacle avoidance.

TerraFirma generates revenue primarily through project-based construction service contracts in Texas, performing mass excavation, land clearing, foundations, grading, grubbing, site demolition, and building pad construction. The company's documented 2025 engagements include a flagship Starbucks site-excavation project in North Austin (partnered with Reger Holdings, Flintrock Commercial, and Thomas Randolph Excavation), site preparation for the Zachary Cole Foundation retreat center in Taylor, and a demolition and grading project in Austin. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; customers initiate engagement through direct website inquiry. The go-to-market is direct-to-customer within a single-state Texas footprint, supported by LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and an Ashby HQ-hosted job board.

The company's stated strategic roadmap is to expand beyond earthmoving into underground utilities, concrete, and structural steel as part of a broader re-industrialization thesis, and ultimately to extend its construction automation stack toward Mars settlement infrastructure. The leadership team blends the two SpaceX co-founders with an operations lead from EnergyX (Texas A&M), a Chief of Staff from Morgan Stanley (Cambridge, Yale), and robotics and embedded engineers from MIT, Tesla, Worldcoin, Bastian Solutions, and Anduril. Operating geographies are limited to the U.S. Southwest, and no funding rounds, revenue figures, or cap-table details are disclosed in the available data.

Name

TerraFirma

Legal name

TerraFirma, Inc.

Website

https://terrafirma.inc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

TerraFirma is an Austin, Texas-based construction technology company founded in 2023 by former SpaceX engineers. It combines AI-enabled software with retrofitted autonomous heavy machinery to deliver earthworks services—excavation, grading, demolition, and site preparation—for commercial and nonprofit customers in Texas.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Construction Technology Services

NAICS

Computer Systems Design Services (541512)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Topsoil Stripping, Stockpiling & Reinstatement (IMAFAKAB)

Keywords

• Autonomous construction technology
• Earthworks services
• Construction robotics
• Remote-operated heavy machinery
• Site preparation excavation

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Construction Services: TerraFirma performs earthworks services including mass excavation, land clearing, foundations, grading, grubbing, site demolition, and more. Revenue is generated through project-based service contracts where the company deploys its technology and crew to customer job sites. Services are offered for excavators, bulldozers, skid steers, loaders, graders, and rollers, operated autonomously, remotely, or traditionally.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

TerraFirma designs and operates an integrated construction technology platform composed of Mission Planner (AI-enabled pre-construction software for bidding, planning, simulation, and execution), Mission Control (a remote command-and-control center for distributed job sites), and Accelerated Operations (retrofitted heavy machinery operated autonomously, remotely, or traditionally). The company directly delivers earthworks services including mass excavation, land clearing, foundations, grading, grubbing, and site demolition to enterprise and commercial customers in Texas.

Product overview

TerraFirma offers a unified construction technology platform consisting of Mission Planner (AI-enabled pre-construction software for bidding, planning, simulation, and execution) and Mission Control (remote command-and-control center), supported by Accelerated Operations (retrofitted heavy machinery with autonomous/remote operation capabilities). These products work together to provide end-to-end construction automation through human-in-the-loop autonomy, with lean crews designing and triggering autonomous workflows carried out by retrofitted machinery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mission Planner AI-enabled pre-construction software suite for project bidding, planning, simulation, and execution, used by TerraFirma's project teams to plan and orchestrate construction work.
• Mission Control Remote command-and-control center used to tightly coordinate dynamic construction operations and provide centralized, real-time oversight of distributed job sites.
• Accelerated Operations Retrofitted heavy machinery fleet (excavators, bulldozers, skid steers, loaders, graders, and rollers) that can be autonomously, remotely, or traditionally operated by small, highly efficient crews.
• Earthworks Services Project-based earthworks services in Texas including mass excavation, land clearing, foundations, grading, grubbing, site demolition, and building pad construction, delivered using TerraFirma's autonomous, remote, or traditionally operated machinery, with trusted partners for utilities and concrete.

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• StarbuckscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025TerraFirma partnered with Starbucks for site excavation of a new Starbucks location in North Austin, Texas in 2025. This represents a flagship commercial customer engagement demonstrating TerraFirma's capability to serve major retail chains.
• Reger HoldingsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Reger Holdings collaborated with TerraFirma on the Starbucks site excavation project in North Austin, Texas. Reger Holdings is a commercial real estate partner on this development project.
• Flintrock CommercialminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Flintrock Commercial partnered with TerraFirma on the Starbucks site excavation project in North Austin, Texas as part of the commercial development team.
• Thomas Randolph ExcavationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Thomas Randolph Excavation partnered with TerraFirma on the Starbucks site excavation project in North Austin, Texas, combining TerraFirma's technology with local excavation expertise.
• Zachary Cole FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025TerraFirma provided site preparation and building pad construction for the Zachary Cole Foundation retreat center in Taylor, Texas. The nonprofit supports young adult athletes in their fight against leukemia.
• Utilities and Concrete PartnersminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTerraFirma collaborates with trusted partners for utilities and concrete work, extending service capabilities beyond earthworks to provide comprehensive construction solutions.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Boston Dynamics: Boston Dynamics is commercializing legged and wheeled robots (Spot, Stretch) for industrial and construction environments, including a partnership with construction firms. It overlaps with TerraFirma in the broader autonomous-robotics-for-built-environment category, though at a different robotic form factor.

Direct peers

• Dusty Robotics: Dusty Robotics builds autonomous mobile robots that print digital building layouts on concrete slab surfaces, addressing a different but adjacent construction bottleneck. It shares TerraFirma's robotics-for-construction DNA and a similar early-stage, high-engineering-pedigree profile.
• Teleo: Teleo retrofits heavy construction equipment (loaders, dump trucks, excavators) with teleoperation and semi-autonomous capabilities, directly mirroring TerraFirma's remote-operation and human-in-the-loop model. It targets similar contractor customers in earthworks and material handling.
• Built Robotics: Built Robotics develops AI guidance systems and autonomous control for heavy construction equipment (excavators, dozers, loaders)—a near-exact analog to TerraFirma's Accelerated Operations offering. It competes head-to-head on the core technology stack of retrofitting and autonomously operating earthmoving machinery.
• SafeAI: SafeAI retrofits heavy off-road equipment (articulated dump trucks, dozers) with autonomous driving technology for mining and construction, and shares TerraFirma's emphasis on safety architecture. Comparable in stage and in the retrofit-autonomy approach to construction and earthworks machinery.

Broad incumbents

• Procore: Procore is the leading construction management software platform for general contractors and owners. While it focuses on project management rather than autonomous execution, it represents the incumbent software layer TerraFirma's Mission Planner would need to integrate with (or displace) for adoption.
• John Deere: John Deere has invested heavily in autonomous tractors and construction equipment, with a stated roadmap toward fully autonomous heavy machinery by 2030. Its OEM platform, dealer network, and R&D resources make it a structural competitor to TerraFirma's retrofit model.
• Komatsu: Komatsu's Smart Construction initiative bundles autonomous dozers, drone surveying, and integrated site management—overlapping directly with TerraFirma's planning-and-execution stack. As one of the largest heavy equipment OEMs globally, Komatsu sets the competitive bar for autonomous earthworks.
• Caterpillar: Caterpillar is the dominant incumbent in construction and earthmoving equipment and is actively pursuing autonomy through Cat Command and Cat Connect. It competes with TerraFirma at the OEM level rather than the retrofit level, and represents both a potential partner and a long-term competitive threat.
• Trimble: Trimble provides hardware and software for construction layout, machine control, and project management—adjacent to TerraFirma's Mission Planner pre-con software. Its machine-control integrations are installed on many OEM machines, making it both a competitor and a potential integration partner.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TerraFirma_Inc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/terrafirmatech

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors10 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TerraFirma