Innovative technology. Innovative capital. BotCrew’s journey to scale

The construction industry faces a growing workforce challenge. Across the country, contractors are struggling to find skilled workers as experienced tradespeople retire, and fewer workers enter the field. The result is rising labor costs, project delays, and increasing pressure on industries that rely on specialized construction crews.

These challenges are particularly acute in the solar industry. According to IREC's National Solar Jobs Census, nearly 90% of solar employers reported difficulty filling open positions, creating workforce constraints that can slow project development and deployment

For Andrew and Maryna Archer, that challenge represented an opportunity.

In 2022, the husband-and-wife team launched BotCrew in Duluth, Minnesota, with a vision of bringing advanced robotics to the construction industry. Andrew, a roboticist, and Maryna, an engineer, believed automation could help address workforce shortages while improving efficiency and safety on construction sites.

“We don't try to offset workers,” said Andrew. “The solutions are really designed to assist and augment the existing workers to keep them safer and reduce physical pain on their bodies, so they can perform better.”

Their solution was Gravion, a modular autonomous robot built specifically for rugged construction environments. With more than 20 interchangeable attachments, Gravion can perform a wide range of tasks including material staging, microtrenching, mowing, snow removal, site inspections, and more. While the company's initial focus has been serving the solar industry, the technology is designed to scale into other sectors such as agriculture, telecommunications, forestry, mining, and manufacturing.

Today, BotCrew's robots are deployed on projects across the country. But transforming an innovative idea into a growing company required more than technical expertise.

It required access to capital.

Why Northern Minnesota?

For Andrew, building the company in northern Minnesota was a deliberate decision.

A Hermantown native, he knew firsthand the region's strong manufacturing culture and skilled workforce. While many technology startups gravitate toward larger metropolitan areas, BotCrew’s vertical integration model found an opportunity to combine their cutting-edge innovation with the practical expertise found in the Twin Ports region.

“We're a very manufacturing-heavy business,” he explained, adding that all the laser cutting, welding, coatings, assembly, and electrical work is done in-house. “I feel it was easier to come to Duluth and gain that reliable skill set and reliable people that you know are going to get the work done right and just bring the tech here.”

With access to a skilled workforce no longer a concern, the next challenge was finding the capital needed to scale the business.

"EFund supported us in the early stages, but we also feel that support now during our growth phase, and as our needs change,” said Maryna. “We still know that we have a strong partner and strong supporter who can help us bring in capital to fund the growth of our company.”

From Startup to Scale

BotCrew first partnered with the Entrepreneur Fund (EFund) in 2022, securing microloans to provide essential working capital as the company moved from prototype development toward commercialization.

At that stage, the capital needs were straightforward: inventory, operations, payroll, and the day-to-day requirements of building a young company.

“It was very difficult. A lot of late nights,” said Andrew. “In the beginning, it was just me and Maryna. We did the entire build and then actually delivered the robot to the sites and trained the customers.”

But as customer demand accelerated, so did the complexity of the business.

The relationship with EFund evolved alongside BotCrew's growth. Through coaching, connections, and introductions to regional investors, BotCrew accessed additional resources that helped strengthen its business foundation and prepare for its next phase of growth.

Over the next several years, the company experienced rapid expansion. Manufacturing increased, deployments spread across the country, and the team grew to more than 40 employees.

“Having more employees just accelerates what we can do,” said Andrew. “You can get into specific disciplines for each person. You don't have to be a jack-of-all-trades. Everyone can focus on their part of the craft, and it increases velocity.”

What began as a startup was becoming a high-growth company.

As opportunities expanded, so did the need for a different type of capital.

A New Financing Tool for High-Growth Businesses

Traditional business loans work well when cash flows are predictable and repayment timelines are clear. Equity investments can provide growth capital, but often require owners to give up a portion of ownership and future value.

For businesses experiencing rapid growth, neither option is ideal.  

To address this gap, the Entrepreneur Fund partnered with Wells Fargo to develop a new program that provides innovative capital solutions, such as revenue-based financing. Designed for businesses with strong growth potential, revenue-based financing offers the needed capital to accelerate expansion while maintaining ownership.

Revenue-based financing provides growth capital in exchange for payments tied to a company's future revenue. Rather than a fixed monthly payment, repayment adjusts alongside business performance.

For companies pursuing significant opportunities such as adding key leadership positions, expanding production capacity, entering new markets, acquiring businesses, or accelerating sales growth, this structure can provide flexibility during critical growth periods.

“We don't come in with a preconceived idea of what the financing should be, but the numbers and the growth plans start to inform that,” said Shawn Wellnitz, EFund CEO and President. “It's fun to do that work. It does take some time and intention because we really can’t customize that capital until we have clarity on the growth proposition and what they’re looking to do. We just know it has to be a win-win.”  

Revenue-based financing occupies a unique space between traditional debt and equity. It can be combined with bank financing, subordinate debt, and investor capital to create a comprehensive funding package tailored to a company's needs.

The Right Capital at the Right Time

For BotCrew, revenue-based financing represented the next step in a long-term partnership.

The financing package included a combination of investor capital and working capital to support continued expansion, strengthen cash flow, and position the company for future growth opportunities.  

More importantly, it aligned repayment with the company's growth trajectory.

Instead of choosing between restrictive debt structures or ownership dilution, BotCrew gained access to capital that supports growth while allowing the founders to retain control of the business they built.  

"Having EFund support allowed us to maintain founders’ equity, which is very uncommon for our stage and is extremely important for us to be able to guide the company with clarity and purpose,” said Maryna.  

Creating Regional Impact

BotCrew's early success represents more than the growth of a single company.

As the company expands, it creates high-quality jobs in engineering, manufacturing, operations, and technology fields. It strengthens economic diversification in a region traditionally reliant on a narrower range of industries. And it demonstrates that innovative technology companies can start, grow, and remain rooted in northern Minnesota.

By combining entrepreneurial vision, innovative capital, strategic partnerships, and local talent, BotCrew is proving that world-class innovation can happen anywhere.

And through tools like revenue-based financing, more high-growth businesses will have the opportunity to do the same.

“One of the important things for us is building a generational business,” said Andrew. “Especially here, where there may not be so many opportunities. We have a lot of people leaving to go find jobs elsewhere, especially as technology comes on board. So for us to build BotCrew here in the Twin Ports and become a bedrock in this region, where now you can get access to these technology jobs and grow and still stay in the region, that is really important to us.”

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