Bobyard announced a $35 million Series A led by 8VC, with participation from Pear VC, Primary Venture Partners, Tishman Speyer, RXR, Caffeinated Capital and Merrick Ventures. With this funding, Bobyard will continue advancing its AI models and capabilities in landscaping while expanding into additional trades, including drywall, electrical, HVAC, plumbing and framing.
Since beginning in landscaping, Bobyard has quickly built an audience of commercial contractors across the United States. Contractors report an average 65 percent reduction in takeoff times; three to five times more bids submitted per estimator. Bobyard’s technology automates up to 70 percent of the quantity and material takeoff process, the most time-consuming step in preconstruction. The platform allows contractors to prepare bids in minutes instead of hours. Takeoffs form the foundation of preconstruction and Bobyard’s models interpret blueprints the way estimators do, turning static drawings into structured data.
Founded by Michael Ding, a Stanford-trained engineer and award-winning mathematician, the company’s team brings together computer vision engineers and operators from institutions such as Stanford, Princeton, Berkeley and Virginia Tech.
“We’re solving some of the hardest problems in computer vision by teaching machines to understand blueprints,” said Michael Ding, founder and CEO of Bobyard. “It’s an opportunity to push the boundaries of AI in a field that directly shapes the built environment.”
Chopper Landscaping is one of many companies utilizing the platform. The company used Bobyard to win its first commercial projects, unlocking roughly $350,000 in new work. Project manager and estimator John Barrett shared that Bobyard has cut his takeoff time “at least in half, if not more,” while enabling his team to bid faster and more confidently. Barrett said, “This is the way to go. This is literally the future of estimating in landscaping and it’s time to get on board.”
