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Mach9 raises $34M to scale AI CAD software after ditching hardware
The Carnegie Mellon spinout started out building surveying gear and now sells AI software that turns LiDAR scans into engineering drawings
Mach9 has raised $34 million to push its AI-powered CAD software further into civil engineering and surveying, according to TechCrunch.
When it launched in 2021, the San Francisco startup wanted to make surveying hardware that was better, faster and cheaper than what was on the market. It has since walked away from that plan.
From scanners to software
Four Carnegie Mellon University researchers founded Mach9: Alexander Baikovitz, who serves as CEO, Zachary Sussman, the CTO, plus Haowen Shi and Michael Mong. Their original product was a vehicle-mounted scanning system.
In 2024, the company switched fully to a software model. Customer feedback reportedly drove the move.
Clients were not short on data. They were short on ways to process it. LiDAR, the laser-based scanning tech surveyors use to capture roads and structures, produces dense 3D maps called point clouds.
That tracing step is traditionally done by hand in CAD, or computer-aided design, software.
What Digital Surveyor actually does
Mach9’s flagship product is called Digital Surveyor. Version 2 launched in March 2026 as a web-based CAD platform.
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The software uses AI to automate feature extraction from LiDAR point clouds. Put simply, it picks out the objects that matter in a scan and converts them into structured drawings without a person clicking through every one.
Mach9 says the platform can be up to 100 times faster than manual CAD methods.
Going software-only had a practical upside. The platform works with a range of existing LiDAR scanners instead of locking customers into Mach9-built hardware.
The company says it has processed more than 100,000 miles of surveyed infrastructure. That work spans over 2,500 projects across all 50 states.
Its customer list includes engineering firms Langan, Olsson, HNTB and WSP, along with several state Departments of Transportation.
A big step up from the seed round
The new raise dwarfs what Mach9 had disclosed before. In late 2024, the company closed a $12 million seed round led by Quiet Capital.
Total disclosed funding before this round sat at approximately $12.34 million to $15 million. The $34 million figure is more than double the high end of that range.
Mach9 is also backed by Y Combinator. Its team was recognized in Forbes 30 Under 30 for 2026 in the Transportation and Aerospace category.