Exodigo is a subsurface mapping solutions company that combines advanced sensors, 3D imaging, and AI technologies to provide a clear picture of the underground for customers across transportation, utilities, construction, etc. To learn more about the company, Pulse 2.0 interviewed Jeremy Suard, co-founder and CEO at Exodigo.
Jeremy Suard’s Background
Suard lives in Tel Aviv, Israel and was raised in France. When Suard was a teenager, he moved to Israel and went on to study physics at the University of Jerusalem and serve for nearly 10 years in the Israeli army in an elite intelligence unit focused on artificial intelligence and signal processing. Even though Exodigo is a global team now, the company’s roots are in Israel and Suard is proud to have built the company there.
Idea Behind Exodigo
How did the idea for Exodigo come together? Suard told me that he wanted to use the skills and network he had cultivated in the army to solve a massive problem faced by so many industries – which is “understanding the underground.”
More than $100 billion per year is spent on unnecessary excavation and drilling globally and the cost of that (in dollars, time, and pollution for the planet) has been just unacceptable to Suard.
“So, along with my co-founders, I decided to create a solution that would accurately and non-intrusively map the underground using multiple sensors and AI,” said Suard.
Challenges Faced
What are some of the challenges Suard faced in building the company?
“Exodigo is scaling and growing incredibly fast, and like any startup sometimes we struggle with bandwidth or personpower to achieve everything we want to,” Suard acknowledged. “However, we have an incredibly hardworking and devoted team, and we always manage to reach our goals even spread across multiple time zones and continents!”
Core Products
What are Exodigo’s core products? When Suard was building Exodigo, he knew that there was not any single sensor that would have the depth and accuracy they needed to create comprehensive underground maps without digging.
“We use several sensors, all with different strengths, and scan the ground in a unique overlapping snake pattern to cover the entire area. It’s like combining an MRI, CT scan, and ultrasound into a single source of truth,” Suard noted. “We utilize GPR, magnetic gradiometers, electromagnetics, and electrical simulations in time, frequency, and aerial domains. We then use AI to interpret the sensor signals and create our maps. Rather than starting with existing records, we scan and map the entire underground so that we mitigate risk and remove uncertainty for our customers.”
Evolution Of Exodigo’s Technology
How has Exodigo’s technology evolved since launching? Suard said that the company evolves its algorithms to become more accurate at identifying and categorizing underground hazards. And they increase the features identified by the scans and the platform is purpose-built to integrate the latest advances in physics and sensor technology.
“One example of our agile approach was the support we offered the city of Tel Aviv during an emergency last year,” Suard explained. “When a massive sinkhole opened on one of the city’s busiest highways, we jumped into action to scan the sinkhole and the rest of the roadway to find vulnerabilities and help city officials get the road fixed and reopened before anyone was hurt.”
Biggest Milestones
When I asked Suard about some of the company’s biggest milestones, he noted that they are proud of what they have been able to achieve since founded 18 months ago.
“It’s hard to choose, but a few highlights include being selected as one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2022 and as one of Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech 2022, as well as being named a gold medalist in CEMEX Ventures’ Construction Startup competition. We’ve also worked with dozens of major industry players across different sectors, including Caltrans, PG&E, National Grid, and more,” Suard replied. “Our customers span Europe, Israel, and the United States and we are always expanding.”
Funding/Revenue
In terms of funding, Exodigo has raised a seed round of $41 million from investors like 10D, National Grid Partners, Square Peg, and Zeev Ventures. And the company generates revenue from customer relationships. The company’s technology is making a difference for construction, transportation, and utility teams all over the world.
Total Addressable Market
What is the total addressable market (TAM) size that Exodigo is pursuing? Suard told me that they estimated the total addressable market being at about 3% of the global construction market (or $150 billion).
Differentiation From Competition
What differentiates Exodigo from the competition? Suard said that the company’s technology is “revolutionary rather than evolutionary.” And they solve a problem that has existed for decades. And in the process, they are helping customers reduce the cost and environmental impact of construction. Plus the company typically locates around 20-30% more utility lines than premium locators and reduces potholing by up to 70% (Exodigo eliminates dry potholing so construction teams only excavate where necessary). The certainty of the company’s data and map-generating process are the biggest differentiators. Both are possible because of Exodigo’s proprietary AI.
“To my knowledge, no other mapping company has put AI-interpreted signal processing into practice,” Suard noted.
Customer Success Story
When I asked Suard about a customer success story, he cited their first project with Charge.
“We put our technology in a head-to-head test against a status quo premium locator. Our technology located twice as many lines, saving Charge from costly delays due to utility strikes,” Suard pointed out. “Charge was able to avoid 5 utility strikes using our maps, and has engaged us for subsequent projects, including a large mobile home park in Vallejo, California. We were able to find 27 lines and 30 additional suspected lines.
Mapping Market Projections
How does Suard see the underground mapping market evolving in the next 5 years and where does Exodigo fit in?
“Underground mapping is primed to grow exponentially for several reasons, and I think we are leading the pack,” Suard reflected. “As organizations across the world step up their climate commitments, meeting ESG goals for capital projects will be a huge use case for underground mapping. Traditional excavation equipment is extremely expensive to operate and runs on highly pollutive diesel fuel; by pinpointing exactly where excavations need to occur (and where they don’t), our maps eliminate the need for digging solely for discovery and reduce the carbon footprint of projects.”
For the United States specifically, Suard believes that recent investments from the Biden administration in infrastructure projects are leading to exciting new developments in transportation projects.
“Completing these important yet enormous capital projects on time and on budget, especially in an uncertain economy, will require accurate and comprehensive underground mapping. Mitigating the financial, environmental, and safety-related risks that our customers face is core to our mission at Exodigo,” Suard concluded.
