Gropyus's Ambitious Plan: Using Robots to Rebuild Ukraine Faster and Stronger

Growing up in a pioneering public housing project in Vienna, serial entrepreneur Markus Fuhrmann understood what could constitute good, family housing. And when his Ukrainian wife’s home country was brutally invaded by Russia, he knew he was on the right track with his latest endeavor — a construction startup that prefabricates buildings using robotic tools.

### Revolutionizing Construction with Robotics
Now Fuhrmann, who previously co-founded online food ordering giant Delivery Hero, plans to help rebuild Ukraine’s homes. His new startup, Gropyus, has raised a €100 million equity investment round to do it, as well as scale across Germany. The round was led by new investors Semapa and Practical Venture Capital alongside existing investors, taking the company’s total raised to €300 million.

“In 2019, my co-founder [Philipp Erler, former CIO of Zalando] and I sat together and said, ‘Hey, what would be a bigger problem to solve than delivering pizza and fashion?’ I ran into a guy who was in construction, and I thought this is not a very efficient industry.”

Instead, Fuhrmann and Erler came up with a way to prefabricate buildings using robots. The challenge was, they’d have to build their own robotic equipment and robotic operating systems from the ground up.

### Rebuilding Ukraine with Innovative Technology
Fuhrmann said the startup uses robots in their factory to reduce construction time and labor costs significantly. While the prefabricated, timber-hybrid buildings are being built, the company also embeds wiring and software to manage and track every aspect of the building. This allows for precise cost accounting, carbon footprint analysis, and streamlined building management.

“My wife is Ukrainian, and she’s originally from Mariupol, which was virtually destroyed. We had to try to get all the family members out,” Fuhrmann said. Luckily, they did. As a result, he soon realized he could get involved in the reconstruction of the war-torn country.

The company has now teamed up with NGO One Ukraine to build a housing product in the country. Currently in talks to fundraise for the first pilot project in Ukraine, Gropyus aims to build between 50 and 100 apartments with their building operating system, funded by private investors.

Fuhrmann’s vision of providing sustainable and affordable housing not only aligns with his entrepreneurial spirit but also with the urgent needs of communities affected by conflict.