Sitegeist can build on 4 million euros. 

In a pre-seed funding round, the Munich-based startup Sitegeist has received €4 million. The funding will accelerate the further development of the technology and the deployment of the automated systems under real-world conditions.

The funding round is led by b2venture and Open Ocean. Other investors include Alexander Schwörer and Mario Wettengel, as well as angel investors. Verena Pausder, Lea-Sophie Cramer, Andreas Kupke, Sven Degener, Inga vom Holtz and Paolo Oppelt.

Concrete restoration with AI and robotics

Sitegeist develops automated, AI-powered robots for concrete repair. The startup is addressing an area of infrastructure maintenance that, according to the company, suffers from capacity bottlenecks. In Germany, the According to KfW, infrastructure repair backlog by 2025, the cost will reach a three-digit billion-euro figure. At the same time, there is a shortage of skilled workers, particularly for physically demanding jobs such as concrete repair.

Lena-Marie Pätzmann, co-founder and CEO of Sitegeist, says: 

"The repair of infrastructure is reaching its limits, especially when it comes to concrete repair." 

Damaged concrete is still removed using manual methods that are difficult to scale, according to Pätzmann. Sitegeist is developing specialized, modular robots that can work directly on existing structures.

Unlike traditional automation solutions, Sitegeist's systems do not require pre-created 3D models or standardized construction site conditions. According to the company, the robots autonomously perceive their surroundings and adapt their controls to different geometries and material conditions. The goal is to precisely remove damaged concrete without damaging the underlying steel reinforcement.

Cooperation with construction companies

According to the startup, Sitegeist works directly with concrete renovation companies. The modular platform is intended to be expanded to include further steps in the renovation value chain. With the current funding, the Munich-based startup plans to acquire additional test sites, bring on board co-development partners, and hire new employees.

Florian Schweitzer, partner at b2venture, describes the manual removal of concrete as "extremely tedious", which is why the use of robotics is ideal for this purpose.
Sam Helds, partner at OpenOcean, points to the shortage of skilled workers in the construction industry and sees automation as an approach to implement infrastructure projects more efficiently in the future:

“This is exactly the kind of task we want to automate with AI: a manual, expensive process with limited availability of skilled workers. Given an aging population and a shortage of skilled labor in physical industries like construction, robotics will help us transform our infrastructure for the future (…).”

Sitegeist Sitegeist is a spin-off from the Technical University of Munich. The company emerged from a robotics research environment led by Prof. Matthias Althoff and won the Munich Startup Special Prize in 2025, among other awards. Sitegeist was founded by Dr. Lena-Marie Pätzmann from the University of St. Gallen, along with Claus Carste, Julian Hoffmann, and Nicola Kolb. The founders met during their studies at the Technical University of Munich and within the Munich startup ecosystem.

With this pre-seed funding, Sitegeist aims to take the next step in its development and further validate its technology under real-world conditions. In the long term, the Munich-based startup plans to establish its robotic platform across the infrastructure maintenance sector and explore further applications in the field of automated concrete repair.