# Jeevan Kalanithi

> Jeevan Kalanithi is the co-founder and CEO of OpenSpace, a San Francisco-based construction technology company that has mapped over 50 billion square feet of job sites across 125 countries using AI-powered 360-degree visual intelligence. A Stanford Symbolic Systems grad and MIT Media Lab alum who played in an indie rock band before building award-winning smart toys exhibited at MoMA, Kalanithi brought the same obsessive product craft to construction — an industry he stumbled into while helping ship drones at 3D Robotics. OpenSpace has raised ~$200M and counts 62% of the ENR Top 400 general contractors as customers.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at OpenSpace
- **Organizations:** OpenSpace, Sifteo, 3D Robotics, Lux Capital, Taco Lab, EYEBEAM
- **From:** New York, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS, Symbolic Systems (AI concentration + 20th-century European philosophy), Stanford University, MS, Computer Science / Tangible Computing, MIT Media Lab
- **Known for:** Co-founded OpenSpace, which has mapped 50+ billion square feet of construction across 125 countries, OpenSpace used by 62% of ENR Top 400 general contractors, Raised ~$200M in funding; achieved $902M valuation at Series D (2022)

## Career timeline

- **1978** — Born in New York; raised from age 8 in Cameron, Arizona
- **1985** — Sees Optimus Prime (Transformers); sparks lifelong interest in robotics and technology
- **2000** — Graduates Stanford with BS in Symbolic Systems (AI + philosophy)
- **2000-2005** — Post-Stanford: Java developer in NYC; dot-com bust; works at EYEBEAM digital arts lab; works on film sets and TV commercials; computational neuroscience research; indie rock band
- **2005** — Enrolls at MIT Media Lab as NSF Graduate Fellow
- **2006** — Brainstorms 'smart blocks' concept with Stanford roommate Dave Merrill in Media Lab kitchen — the seed of Sifteo
- **2007** — Completes MIT thesis ('Connectibles'); co-founds Sifteo with David Merrill; co-founds Taco Lab design consultancy
- **2009** — Sifteo demoed at TED by Dave Merrill — video goes viral; first 1,000 Sifteo Cubes sell out in 13 hours
- **2011** — Sifteo Cubes exhibited at MoMA's 'Talk to Me' exhibition
- **2014** — Sifteo acquired by 3D Robotics; Jeevan joins 3DR as President / Chief Product Officer
- **2015** — Helps ship 3DR consumer drone generating $45M in first-year sales; builds Site Scan enterprise software with Autodesk
- **2016** — Departs 3D Robotics; takes time to blog and explore ideas about camera ubiquity
- **2017-03** — Joins Lux Capital as first-ever Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR)
- **2017-08** — Co-founds OpenSpace with Philip DeCamp and Michael Fleischman; raises $3.5M seed from Lux Capital
- **2018** — OpenSpace emerges from stealth; pivots to wearable hard-hat-mounted 360° camera after early tripod prototype is rejected
- **2019** — Raises $14M Series A led by Lux Capital
- **2020** — Raises $15.9M Series B led by Menlo Ventures; pandemic accelerates remote site monitoring demand
- **2021** — Raises $55M Series C led by Alkeon Capital; 1.5B+ sq ft mapped
- **2022** — Raises $102M Series D (+ $9M extension) at $902M valuation; 7B+ sq ft captured; 10,000+ job sites in 76 countries
- **2023** — OpenSpace revenue reaches $56.7M; 331 employees
- **2025** — Launches 'Visual Intelligence Platform' at Waypoint summit; acquires Disperse; 50B+ sq ft captured; 125 countries; 350,000 users

## Achievements

- Co-founded OpenSpace, which has mapped 50+ billion square feet of construction across 125 countries
- OpenSpace used by 62% of ENR Top 400 general contractors
- Raised ~$200M in funding; achieved $902M valuation at Series D (2022)
- Co-founded Sifteo — smart toy cubes exhibited at MoMA's 'Talk to Me' exhibition (2011)
- Helped ship 3D Robotics consumer drone generating $45M in first-year sales
- National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow at MIT Media Lab
- Lux Capital's first-ever Entrepreneur-in-Residence
- OpenSpace named among top construction technology platforms globally
- Acquired Disperse, the leading construction progress tracking platform (2025)
- OpenSpace reported 41% reduction in insurance claims for users

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — OpenSpace acquires Disperse, the construction progress tracking platform
- **2025-09** — Launches 'Visual Intelligence Platform' at Waypoint 2025 customer summit; 300+ attendees
- **2025-01** — OpenSpace 2025 stats: 50B+ sq ft captured; 350,000 users; 125 countries; 80,000+ projects
- **2022-08** — Closes $9M Series D extension; total Series D reaches $111M
- **2022-03** — Closes $102M Series D led by PSP Growth (Penny Pritzker); valuation $902M

## Links

- Website: https://jkal.us/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeevan

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jeevan-kalanithi
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-12