PaintJet, A Robotic Solution for The $175 Billion Painting Industry, Raises $3.5 Million

PaintJet, a robotics and material sciences company automating large scale commercial and industrial painting, today announced it has raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by Dynamo Ventures, with participation from MetaProp, Pathbreaker Ventures, and Builders VC.

The US currently needs more than 100,000 painters to meet demand, and that will only continue to worsen with more than 41 percent of painters in the workforce expected to retire by 2031. Corrosion currently costs the US 3 percent of its GDP, and 80 percent of painting/corrosion prevention costs are due to labor. In short, painting is specialized and expensive work that has to be done.

PaintJet helps business and facilities owners rethink how buildings are protected, through advanced robotics, data, imaging, and specialty coatings. Its technology enables painters to increase their productivity and decrease time on the jobsite, resulting in lower costs while guaranteeing application quality. The technology itself is a mobile lift attachment designed to quickly and uniformly apply paint or industrial coatings to large scale commercial projects at an accuracy of 0.001" thick. Precision application reduces overspray and improves coating transfer efficiency, reducing coating consumption by 25 percent.

“Painting is the $175 billion industry you’ve never heard of before. Every exterior structure is corroded by weather, and painting is how you protect against those elements. People outside the industry are shocked to discover the number of multi-billion dollar companies in the space, and when you realize we’ve been painting the same way for over 50 years, the opportunity is incredible,” said Nick Hegeman, founder and CEO of PaintJet. “It’s still largely a fragmented, manual process that’s ripe for innovation, especially in large-scale applications. This is why we built PaintJet — not just to bring technology to an analog industry, but really to redefine the entire corrosion prevention process.”

PaintJet integrates the entire painting process. PaintJet paint is applied by robotics and its long term maintenance cycle is managed and predicted using PaintJet imaging. Pictures and environmental conditions are recorded throughout the process, ensuring surface prep and coating application meet manufacturer requirements for warranties. These base state images are then compared regularly against current building conditions to plan future maintenance cycles, bringing predictability to what was previously an ad hoc process.

By utilizing a national network of local painters, PaintJet is able to perform commercial projects anywhere. Its fully remote control system keeps operators on the ground, eliminating the possibility of falling from elevated platforms.

“Painting is one of those industries that many often take for granted because they assume it’s straightforward or not large or important enough of a problem to try and disrupt, ” said Santosh Sankar, co-founder and managing partner at Dynamo Ventures. “But in truth, there is a multi-billion dollar opportunity when looking at industrial assets across the supply chain that need routine painting and coating. PaintJet has built a compelling, technology solution that makes them an incredibly exciting company to watch over the next decade. It might not be the sexiest story, but it’s critical for asset owners and one we are thrilled to be a part of.”

“Thanks to PaintJet, exterior painting and maintenance planning are two less things I have to worry about — compared to traditional painting, this is a welcome change,” said Joel Beasley, a facility director located in Nashville, Tenn.

About PaintJet
PaintJet multiplies painter productivity by integrating AI and robotics throughout the entire coating process. This allows for projects to be completed up to 14x faster than average while using 25 percent less materials and guaranteeing application quality. Designed with the construction operating environment in mind, PaintJet operates by connecting to industry standard equipment already on site, can be set up and taken down in 30 minutes and is mobile enough to be transported in a pickup or small trailer. For more information, visit paintjet.com.

Contact Information

James Christopherson

PR Manager

PaintJet

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