Physical artificial intelligence startup Origin, which builds autonomous robotics for interior finishing, has secured $20 million in a funding round co-led by Accel and Zacua Ventures. The round drew additional backing from Unilazer Ventures, Schema Ventures, and Z21, alongside high-profile angel investors from Tesla, Anduril, Skild AI, and 1X.
The capital injection will finance the expansion of Origin’s autonomous fleet, support commercial deployments of its flagship OG-1 robot, and accelerate customer pilot programs across the United States and Europe. The company also intends to broaden its platform’s software and hardware capabilities to take on a wider range of structural finishing tasks.
Automating Interior Finishing with the OG-1
Founded in 2025 by Yogesh Ghaturle, Ashish Daga, and Tushar Makkar, Origin develops autonomous systems targeted at hazardous, physically taxing, and labor-intensive building tasks. Its flagship robot, the OG-1, automates interior wall-finishing workflows, performing compound application, sanding, and priming.
Designed for diverse indoor environments, the OG-1 operates across commercial office layouts, residential complexes, data centers, hotels, and logistics warehouses. Origin achieved field deployment on active job sites in New York within 10 months of inception. The startup is now initiating large-scale customer trials with prominent drywall contractors in the United States and preparing pilots in Germany, Sweden, France, and Saudi Arabia. It has set a commercial target to deploy 150 active units by the close of 2027 while engineering updates for drywall hanging, taping, drilling, and conduit installation.
Proprietary AI for Dynamic Construction Sites
The core of the OG-1’s operations is Origin’s proprietary Construction Action Model, a specialized foundation model built specifically for structural job sites. The system integrates task scheduling, sub-millimeter tool manipulation, and real-time autonomous navigation, enabling machines to adjust to dynamic, unstructured site conditions.
The company’s leadership pairs software engineering with hardware scaling experience. Ghaturle previously established Perpule, a cloud retail platform acquired by Amazon in 2021. Makkar, who directs autonomy engineering, formerly worked at enterprise AI provider Eightfold AI, while hardware head Daga previously developed medical robotics at Morphle Labs.
Addressing Persistent Skilled Labor Deficits
Origin’s fundraising arrives as construction firms turn toward automation to navigate historic labor shortages and scheduling bottlenecks. Industry findings indicate that over 40% of US commercial builders have faced delayed completion timelines due to staffing shortfalls.
This supply crunch has triggered a sharp influx of venture funding into robotics. Sector investment reached $1.36 billion across the first three quarters of 2025—more than double the capital deployed in 2024. As contractors face mounting delivery deadlines and rising labor costs, autonomous physical AI solutions like the OG-1 are seeing accelerated interest across international building markets.
