Physical AI continues to draw cheques in startup funding in India. Construction-robotics startup Origin emerged from stealth with $20 million in funding, co-led by Accel and Zacua Ventures, with participation from Unilazer Ventures, Schema Ventures, Z21, and angel investors from Anduril, Skild AI, 1X and Tesla.
Robots for the world's least-automated industry
Founded in 2025 by Yogesh Ghaturle (co-founder & CEO), Ashish Daga and Tushar Makkar, Origin builds general-purpose autonomous robots for interior construction. Its flagship OG-1 robot autonomously completes wall-finishing workflows — applying compound, sanding and priming to a professional finish — and the company claims it works 3X faster than a human crew.
The capital will primarily deploy the OG-1 fleet and support large-scale pilots with customers in the US and Europe, including two of the largest drywall-finishing contractors in the US, plus pilots in Germany, Sweden, France and Saudi Arabia. Origin targets 150 robots deployed by end-2027. The startup has already deployed robots at construction sites in New York within 10 months of launch, and the system runs on its Construction Action Model, a foundation model for construction workflows. As part of the investment, Zacua Ventures founding partner Vivin Hegde has joined the board as a director.
Why it matters for founders
Origin shows deeptech investors are funding physical AI beyond labs — robots that earn trust on live job sites. For robotics founders, the pitch that works now is margin expansion for customers: Origin sells contractors up to 20% day-one savings amid severe labour shortages, not technology demos.