I used Waze and Google Maps side by side, and one quickly became my favorite

Josh Mackanic, a former engineer at Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), has founded a startup called CivilGrid in an attempt to create a "Google Maps for what's underground." The idea stemmed from Mackanic's concerns about the utility company's lack of knowledge about the underground assets it didn't own or operate. In 2020, CivilGrid launched, aiming to aggregate disparate data regarding utility assets, property ownership, and environmental regulations into a single platform.

This will enable governments, civil engineering firms, and utility companies to access and manage this information more efficiently.

CivilGrid has successfully raised $26 million in Series A funding from investors such as Spark Capital, Afore, A*, Ford Street Ventures, SNR, and Energy Impact Partners, a fund with utility companies as limited partners. PG&E, one of CivilGrid's customers, has already identified $60 million in avoidable paving costs across 1,600 planned gas distribution projects by utilizing the startup's technology.

According to PG&E's senior vice president of enterprise business and technology modernization, Christine Cowsert, the company expects CivilGrid to help teams identify risks earlier, build more efficiently, and avoid unnecessary costs while prioritizing safety.

Mackanic intends to expand CivilGrid's customer base and eventually tackle other bureaucratic challenges that make construction in the U.S. difficult. Currently, the startup provides engineers with the data needed to make decisions about where to place infrastructure. However, Mackanic envisions a future where CivilGrid can automate processes, such as filing permits, once they have established a comprehensive dataset and fostered relationships with partners most likely to pay for this information.