CivilGrid raises $26m to map underground infrastructure
CivilGrid, founded by former PG&E engineer Josh Mackanic, has raised $26 million to map underground infrastructure such as utility pipes and cables. The company aims to reduce costly and dangerous “utility strikes” by giving engineers, governments and utilities better visibility of assets beneath construction sites, where information is often fragmented between different owners.
The Series A was led by Spark Capital, with backing from Afore, A*, Ford Street Ventures, SNR and Energy Impact Partners. Mackanic says an unidentified pipe once delayed a project by three days and cost $60,000, while PG&E found CivilGrid could avoid $60 million in paving costs across 1,600 planned gas-distribution projects. CivilGrid plans to expand its customer base and eventually automate route recommendations and permit applications for infrastructure projects.
- CivilGrid raised $26 million to map underground infrastructure.
- Better data could prevent costly utility strikes.
- PG&E identified $60 million in potential savings.
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Pipes and cables for water, gas, electricity and communications run beneath roads and building sites. Records of their location are often held by separate utilities and public bodies, so engineers planning construction may not have a complete picture of what lies underground.
Striking a buried service can put workers and the public at risk, interrupt supply and delay projects while repairs are made. CivilGrid is a company that brings underground asset information together for people planning work, including engineers, local authorities and utility providers.
The company was founded by Josh Mackanic, a former engineer at California utility PG&E. Its work sits between construction and the organisations that own underground networks, where better information can affect how projects are planned and how much disruption they cause.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Utility strikes present a genuine and costly safety hazard, often running to tens of millions of pounds in damages and delays annually. CivilGrid's centralised infrastructure mapping system, with appropriate security protocols, offers a demonstrable solution to fragmented information that currently causes dangerous inefficiencies. Pilot results show substantial benefits, including potential savings exceeding £50 million across major utilities, whilst automation of permitting could significantly expedite infrastructure projects.
The case against
Whilst the fragmentation problem is real, consolidating sensitive infrastructure data through a private company introduces material security risks and undesirable power concentration. Distributed control, though operationally less efficient, prevents total system failure and preserves autonomy. Concerns about job displacement through automation, vendor lock-in, and the precedent of critical infrastructure dependency on a single private platform deserve serious consideration before accepting full centralisation.
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Originally published by TechCrunch as “This former PG&E engineer is building a ‘Google Maps for the underground’”.