AUAR
AUAR (Automated Architecture) automates timber homebuilding through containerized robotic Micro-Factories and its MasterBuilder design-to-fabrication software. Homebuilders book the equipment on a pay-per-use basis, run designs through the AI software, and fabricate timber panels on-site with no factory capex.
Best for: Homebuilders, developers, and contractors who want to prefabricate timber-frame structures on-site to cut labor and cost without building a permanent factory.
Last reviewed 6/2/26
- Integrations
- Works with ABB robotics; takes standard architectural drawings as input. No public list of third-party software integrations.
- Property types
- residential, affordable-housing, modular-housing
- Geography served
- United Kingdom and Europe (Belgium) with deployments in the United States (Midwest)
How AUAR uses AI[1][3]
AUAR's MasterBuilder software uses AI-enhanced generative design to turn architectural drawings into production-ready output in about a day, automating panel layout, sequencing, and quality control. It then drives ABB robotic Micro-Factories that cut and assemble timber wall, floor, and roof panels on or near the build site.
- • MasterBuilder converts architectural drawings into production-ready fabrication output in roughly one day
- • AI generative design plans panel layouts, production sequencing, and quality control
- • Connects design output directly to ABB robotic Micro-Factories that fabricate timber panels
- • Containerized Micro-Factory produces a typical home's timber structure in around 8-12 hours, cutting on-site labor up to 75%
AI type: AI-enhanced generative design software connected to robotic fabrication automation
Legacy platform API: unknown MCP: no
Key numbers[2][5]
- • Raised £5.1M (June 2025) led by Planet A
- • roughly £7.7M raised to date
- • Contributed to 300+ homes in the past year and deployed two Micro-Factories to the US Midwest
- • Reports up to 75% on-site labor reduction and 30-40% construction cost reduction
- • timber structure produced in ~8-12 hours
- • Partnership with ABB Robotics
- • awarded a £341,000 Innovate UK SMART grant
Credibility[3][2]
- Founders
- Co-founded in 2019 by Mollie Claypool (CEO) and Gilles Retsin (CTO/Chief Architect), both former UCL architecture academics; AUAR spun out of over a decade of research into robotics and generative design.
- Customers
- Contributed to 300+ homes in the past year; completed projects in Belgium with contractor Vandenbussche; shipped two robotic Micro-Factories to the US Midwest, each capable of up to 180 homes a year.
- Investors
- £5.1M round (June 2025) led by Planet A, with Shadow Ventures, Common Magic, Concrete VC, and prior backers including ABB Robotics Ventures; about £7.7M raised to date.
Founded
2019
Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Stage
Series A
Employees
11-50
Sources
- AUAR official website (auar.io)
- Tech.eu: AUAR raises £5.1M to expand robotic micro-factories
- Tech Funding News: Robots, timber, and £5.1M - how AUAR is rebuilding housing
- ABB News: AUAR to build climate-neutral research facility (ABB Robotics partnership)
- RoboticsTomorrow: AUAR ships robotic micro-factories to the US Midwest
- AUAR LinkedIn company page
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