Can remotely operated excavators fix construction’s labor gap?

This article is a part of Startup Spotlight, a series that features young, up-and-coming startups.

Image credit: Arsal Ysfin

When Jash Mota was building a developer tool for robotics companies, one of his beta customers was Mahimana Bhatt, a senior robotics engineer at Motional. Jash realized his remote operation tech had a higher return on investment in industries needing certified operators, like construction.

Mota started working on the idea, reconnected with Bhatt, and together they co-founded Flywheel AI to pursue the idea.

😟 Problem

The construction industry faces a critical labor crisis, with a shortage of 1 million workers in the US alone. Safety is a major concern. In Singapore, worker deaths tripled in the second half of 2024 compared to the first half.

Productivity also suffers. Due to operator blindspots and other inefficiencies, excavators on sites are only productive about 60% of the time. An aging workforce and falling recruitment rates worsen these challenges for contractors.

💡 Solution

Flywheel AI develops retrofit kits that turn existing excavators into remote-controlled, semi-autonomous machines. The system can be installed on any excavator model in a single day.

This allows companies to upgrade their existing fleets without buying expensive new equipment. The solution’s key features include:

• Remote operation: One operator can control multiple machines from a safe, remote location.
• AI co-pilot: The system’s AI assists with precision work and hazard avoidance.
• Machine agnostic: The hardware kit works with any excavator, regardless of the manufacturer.
• Data collection: Deployed systems gather data to train progressively smarter autonomous functions.

Photo credit: FlyWheel

📊 Market size

Globally, there are approximately 6 million excavators in operation. Flywheel AI estimates its addressable market in the US and Singapore is around US$200 billion. The company’s long-term goal is to enable full, end-to-end autonomy for construction machinery.

🤝 Team

• Jash Mota. Co-founder, CEO. Previously built India’s first robotic food kiosk. He has sold robotics software to organizations like ISRO and Accenture.
• Mahimana Bhatt. Co-founder. Former senior robotics engineer at Motional. He built the company’s machine learning data and evaluation pipeline, making it 5x faster at 20% of the cost.

🚀 Traction

• Working with major construction contractors in Singapore on active sites.
• Flywheel AI was part of Y Combinator’s Summer 2025 batch.
• Expanded to the US, deploying on data center and public dam projects.
• Has three paying customers with a combined fleet of over 700 excavators.

🏆 Competition

💰 Financials