Diamond Age CTO says pursuing Series A extension

Diamond Age is adding to its $50 million Series A as it looks to expand the number of robots it uses to build homes more quickly and sustainably.

Why it matters: The startup, co-founded by Tesla veteran Russell Varone, says it can build homes five times faster than traditional methods — offering a path toward addressing the housing crisis.

Catch up fast: Diamond Age has developed roughly a dozen robotic tools to automate portions of home construction.

• The Phoenix-based startup last year raised $50 million at $90 million pre-money valuation, per PitchBook.

The latest: Diamond Age is now pursuing a Series A extension to develop more tools that would enable it to automate a greater share of home building.

• Prime Movers Lab is leading, joined by home builder Century Communities and Alpaca VC, the seed-stage firm formerly known as Corigin Ventures.

Of note: Varone, the company's CTO, declined to disclose a target for the extension or how much the startup has raised so far.

• However, he notes that Diamond Age has overall raised $80 million to date.

What they're saying: "We can build a house in 30 days — five times faster than what you can do manually swinging hammers," Varone tells Axios.

Between the lines: Climate investors have been drawn to how Diamond Age and similar startups may be able to reduce reliance on diesel-burning equipment, use greener materials, and incorporate better insulation.

What's next: Diamond Age began raising the extension in Q1. It expects to close in the next 60 days.

• It plans to expand its array of home-building robotic tools from 11 to 27, enabling the company to build about 55% of a home — up from 27% currently.