Cross Sector Raises 770 Million JPY in Funding for Construction Sensing Service

Cross Sector, which provides the sensing service "Frame Finder" for construction sites, announced on the 22nd that it has raised a total of 770 million JPY from seed to Series A funding.

The total amount includes investments and loans from financial institutions, marking the company's first public announcement regarding its fundraising. The specifics of the amounts raised in each round and the breakdown between investments and loans have not been disclosed.

The Series A round was led by Animal Spirits, along with major investors such as Nikon, Coral Capital, Mizuho Capital, Sanshin Equipment, SMBC Venture Capital, and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital.

Founded in March of last year as Nikon's first spin-off company, Cross Sector aims to apply Nikon's precision measurement technology to construction sites, beginning operations in July of the same year.

In the assembly process of steel frames, the position of columns is measured, adjusted, and re-measured repeatedly, which can affect project management due to the need for skilled surveyors. Frame Finder automates this process by using sensors to measure the changes in position that occur during initial setups and final tightening or welding, based on the position of the column head measured with traditional surveying equipment.

The company claims that by attaching four of its uniquely developed sensors, "VF-01," to a single column to measure its tilt, it can reduce the measurement time per column from 15 minutes to 15 seconds, according to its measurement conditions.

Measurement data is automatically stored in the cloud, allowing results to be checked on-site via iPhone or iPad browsers. Administrators can use this data for progress verification and project approval.

The accuracy has been confirmed to be within 1 mm at the column head when measuring a 12-meter high steel column according to specified methods. Over 30 demonstrations and trial introductions have been conducted at major construction sites, with expansions into measurements for retaining walls and bridges.

The raised funds will prioritize the increased production of sensors to meet demand from the field, as well as development of automatic adjustment mechanisms for steel frames and strengthening the organizational structure. The company aims for industry standardization in the domestic market by 2028. This story was reported by BRIDGE.