Puralink
Puralink builds autonomous robots that inspect and map underground pipe networks, giving water and infrastructure operators accurate records of the condition and location of assets they usually cannot see.
- Category
- Deep Tech
- Fund
- NZVC II
- Website
- www.puralink.com.au
- On TechMates
- 2 episodes
What Puralink does
Puralink's Ferret robot navigates corners, intersections and manholes on its own and collects HD video, LiDAR and mapping data as it travels long distances from a single access point. The company serves utilities and asset owners facing aging pipe networks and costly leaks.
The secret
The expensive part of pipe inspection is access, not looking. Because the Ferret drives itself through corners, intersections and vertical stacks for up to a kilometer from one entry point, a survey stops requiring a crew to open the ground every few dozen meters.
Why NZVC invested in Puralink
We backed Puralink because the world's water and wastewater pipes are aging, poorly documented and expensive to inspect, and autonomous robots make that inspection faster, safer and far more thorough. Harrison Crowe-Maxwell puts the share of the world's drinking water lost to leaks at 30 percent. The Ferret combines robotics with the data layer operators need to act on what it finds, which turns a survey into a decision tool. With utilities under growing pressure to cut leaks and plan maintenance, demand for reliable pipe condition data is rising.
Puralink in the press
- How Puralink are saving Australia's pipe network with a 'ferret' - and a $2 million boostForbes Australia · 30 November 2025
- Cheque-in: 5 Australian startups banked $340.2 million this weekStartup Daily · 19 September 2025
- Puralink raised a $2.3 million seed round for its pipe robotsSmartCompany, Forbes Australia · 16 September 2025
- Innovation Underground: Puralink Are Redefining Pipe Inspections with Autonomous RoboticsStartmate · 28 August 2025
Puralink on TechMates
Inside the Startups Bringing AI to the Physical World
You hear three founders explain what robots can and cannot do once they leave the demo reel and enter the real world. David Inggs breaks down why folding laundry is harder than building cars, Nick Damiano of Andromeda Surgical argues that autonomous surgery is an easier problem than self-driving, and Harrison Crowe-Maxwell walks through sending robots into pressurized water pipes to stop leaks before cities run dry.
A joint episode, alongside Andromeda Surgical.
Puralink on TechMates
The Robot That Lives in Your Pipes Forever
You hear how a flooded street on the way to work became a robotics company backed by Peak XV. You learn why 30% of the world's drinking water leaks away, how a robot climbs a vertical pipe, and what an app store for underground infrastructure would look like. You end on humanoid robots in daily life.
- From LEGO Mindstorms to industrial robotics.
- Solving the global water crisis with robots.
- The Best Part is No Part engineering philosophy.