Josh Mackanic, an ex-engineer at Pacific Gas and Electric, has founded CivilGrid to provide a comprehensive 'Google Maps' for underground utilities, addressing the costly issue of utility strikes and information silos with a newly secured $26 million Series A funding round.
- CivilGrid consolidates underground utility data to prevent costly project delays.
- PG&E saved $60 million in planned project costs using CivilGrid technology.
- The startup plans to automate permitting and regulatory workflows next.
What happened
Josh Mackanic left his decade-long engineering career at Pacific Gas and Electric after experiencing firsthand the challenges of navigating incomplete records of underground utilities. Recognizing the costly delays and safety risks caused by information gaps, he founded CivilGrid in 2020 to create a unified data platform that maps underground infrastructure. The company recently closed a $26 million Series A funding round led by Spark Capital, with investments also from industry-related funds.
CivilGrid’s platform integrates diverse data sources, including utility assets, property ownership, and environmental regulations, to offer engineers and planners detailed insights into subterranean infrastructure. PG&E has already used CivilGrid’s solution to uncover $60 million in avoidable paving costs over 1,600 planned gas distribution projects, validating the startup’s impact and potential.
Why it matters
Around 200,000 utility strikes occur annually in the U.S., leading to significant safety hazards, project delays, and financial losses. Traditional utility operators often only have knowledge of their own infrastructure, creating blind spots and inefficiencies when multiple underground systems overlap. CivilGrid’s approach breaks down these silos, enabling more accurate risk assessment and permitting processes, which could transform infrastructure development and maintenance.
By improving visibility into underground networks, CivilGrid not only helps utilities avoid costly mistakes but also supports safer and more efficient construction and maintenance. This is critical as energy demands and infrastructure complexity increase, particularly in states like California. Investors and utility partners see it as a promising tool to modernize and streamline an otherwise fragmented and error-prone sector.
What to watch next
CivilGrid plans to expand its customer base beyond utilities and government agencies to include civil engineering firms and other infrastructure stakeholders. The startup is also exploring automating additional workflow stages, such as recommending infrastructure placements and filing the required permits, which could further cut red tape and accelerate project timelines.
Industry adoption and regulatory acceptance will be key factors in CivilGrid’s growth trajectory. Continued validation through use cases like PG&E’s cost savings will strengthen its market position. Observers should monitor how effectively the company integrates permitting automation and navigates partnerships with multiple utility operators to establish itself as a critical nationwide infrastructure planning tool.