Flo Mobility Raises USD 2.5 Million Pre-Series A from Mela Ventures and Arali Ventures

VMPL
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 11: Flo Mobility Private Limited, a Bengaluru-based company pioneering Physical AI solutions for construction, has raised $2.5 million in a pre-Series A round co-led by Mela Ventures and Arali Ventures. The funding will be used to scale manufacturing, advance its vertical AI and autonomy stack, accelerate deployments across India, and expand into international markets.
Founded in 2021 by Manesh Jain (CEO) and Pratik Patel (COO), Flo Mobility is pioneering the application of Physical AI solutions to the construction industry, one of the world's largest yet least automated sectors.
Construction employs over 270 million people globally but deploys just 15-20 robots per 10,000 workers; a stark contrast to automotive manufacturing's 600+ robots per 10,000 workers. This automation gap represents both a massive inefficiency and a significant commercial opportunity estimated at $65 billion.
"The construction industry has been operating the same way for decades, with enormous amounts of labour dedicated to simply moving materials from one place to another. That's not a people problem; it's a systems problem. Flo mobility was built to solve it. Our robots do not replace the skilled labour that builds India's cities; they free that labour to do the work that matters. This funding gives us the firepower to scale our deployments, build more robots, and expand internationally. We've proven the model. Now we're going to take it to every major construction market in the world." -- Manesh Jain, Co-Founder & CEO, Flo Mobility
Building robotics for construction requires a fundamentally different approach than solutions designed for industrial warehouses or automotive plants. Construction operates on razor-thin margins and projects that last only a few years; meaning automation must deliver ROI in months, not years. At the same time, the industry faces a structural, not cyclical labour shortage. Even in low-cost markets like India, the challenge is no longer wage arbitrage but access to reliable labour, making automation essential to avoid delays and ensure timely project delivery.
"When we first walked onto a construction site with our robot, the reaction from site teams was immediate - They saw materials moving autonomously to the right floor, to the right zone, without anyone pushing a wheelbarrow. That moment still drives us. We've built the hardware, the AI, and the go-to-market from the ground up. With this capital, we will expand our engineering team, double down on product development for automating more use cases and cement Flo Mobility's position as the defining robotics platform for construction. " -- Pratik Patel, Co-Founder & COO, Flo Mobility

Flo Mobility is building a vertically integrated robotics platform, purpose-built for construction environments, combining proprietary hardware, AI models, and autonomy software across perception, intelligence, and action. Starting with material movement, Flo is actively building solutions to automate multiple downstream applications including tiling, wall finishing and screeding.
"Flo Mobility sits at the intersection of Physical AI and strong vertical focus; two areas we believe will define the next wave of innovation. Construction's unique constraints demand purpose-built solutions that deliver ROI in months, not years. Manesh and Pratik have demonstrated deep domain understanding, strong execution capabilities, and technical depth -- exactly what's needed to deploy autonomy in unstructured environments like construction sites. Their traction with marquee logos in the industry in India and early proof-points in the Middle East validates the approach, and we're excited to partner with them as they scale globally". -- Viju George, Partner at Mela Ventures
The company's first product, the Flo Hauler, is a battery-powered Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) that navigates unstructured terrain, constantly changing layouts, extreme weather exposure, and multi-floor operations. The robot can carry loads of up to 1.5 tons, navigating both horizontally across job sites and vertically between floors, transporting heavy construction materials from storage areas to points of use.
"The market imperative of today (acute labour shortage driving up timelines & costs in construction) coupled with the evolution of technology (rapid development of vision models & lowering costs of hardware components) makes for great timing for Flo Mobility to make a 'material movement' in the construction robotics landscape. We have been investors in industrial AI since 2019 and believe that founders working on special purpose robotics solving for nuanced industry use cases achieve rapid enterprise adoption & value." -- Rajiv Raghunandan, General Partner at Arali ventures
Flo Mobility has deployed 60+ robots across 10 states with leading developers including L&T, Godrej Properties, Embassy Group, and Sobha in India. Several customers have already expanded deployments across multiple sites post initial pilots. Clients are seeing ~45% cost savings, 50% faster material movement, and a 67% reduction in accidents.
With this fundraise, the company plans to invest in product development, deepen its India presence, and expand into the Middle East.
About Flo Mobility
Flo Mobility is a Bengaluru-based construction technology company building autonomous robots for the construction industry / built environment. Founded in 2020 by Manesh Jain and Pratik Patel, Flo is developing a multi-robot operations platform that integrates proprietary hardware with AI-powered navigation, perception, and fleet management software. Its flagship product, the Flo Hauler, automates last-mile material movement on construction sites, serving customers including L&T, Godrej Properties, Embassy Group, Sobha, and Capacite Infra.
For more information, visit www.flomobility.com
About Mela Ventures
Mela Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on DeepTech, EnterpriseTech, and ClimateTech companies. With a portfolio spanning GalaxEye, Mindgrove, Vunet, and other category-defining startups, Mela Ventures focuses exclusively on the B2B technology segment, with a sharp eye for category creators building scalable solutions to globally relevant problems. Mela's Managing partners are Krishnakumar N and Parthasarathy NS, who previously founded Mindtree, a multi-billion-dollar IT services leader.
For more information, visit www.melaventures.in
About Arali Ventures
Arali Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2019, investing in Indian enterprise technology startups across themes such as Enterprise AI, Industrial AI,Robotics, Fintech Infrastructure, B2B Commerce, HealthTech, and Sustainability Tech.
The firm is currently investing from its second fund and has backed companies including FinBox, Unbox Robotics, CynLr, Wiz Freight, and Pibit.AI, among others.
For more information, visit www.araliventures.in.
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