Last Week in ConTech - 8 January 2024
Affordable housing reform + legal and policy push back to electrification measures
A summary of the construction technology (ConTech) startup funding, news, acquisitions, policy and regulatory changes which occurred this week.
Last Week in ConTech - 8 January 2024
In this issue there are:
11 Startup Fundings
6 Policy and Regulatory Changes
0 New investment funds
4 Acquisitions
10 News articles
Reading time: 6m 20s
Startup Funding
Labor
Protiv, a New York startup, raised $2.3m in funding. They are developing an incentive platform for hourly workers in the construction industry which links project budgets to team incentives. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Software, 1 role in Marketing]
Safety
Vita Inclinata Technology, a Colorado company raised $44m in funding. They are developing intelligent lifting hardware and software to increase the safety of industrial lifting and search and rescue hoist operations. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Finance, 1 role in Sales]
Electrification
BluSmart, an Indian startup, raised $24m in funding. They are building and developing large scale electric vehicle (EV) charging hubs to increase EV adoption and expand their EV ride hailing service. More here.
[Hiring - 2 roles in Operations, 2 roles in Sales, 2 roles in Support]
Note:
There is a rising trend of transportation startups delivering infrastructure solutions to increase adoption within their core business. Examples include:
EV ride hailing services developing EV charging infrastructure.
Autonomous vehicle operators developing Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) solutions to support autonomous operations (May Mobility).
Residential
Agorus, a Californian startup, raised $20m in Series A funding. They are a panelized home building startup utilizing automotive assembly line-esque efficiency and accuracy to develop structures which can be installed in days rather than months. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Operations]
Birdwatch, a US startup, raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding. They provide one stop property maintenance and repairs for homeowners, real estate agents and investors with a concierge service.
[Hiring - 3 roles in Other]
Water
Element3, a Texas startup, raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding. They are developing a technology to extract critical materials (lithium) from wastewater specializing in the Oil & Gas industry. More here.
Energy
Lumian, a Turkish startup, raised $3.2m in funding. They are developing an energy platform to help companies with real time energy usage monitoring, optimization opportunities and tariff recommendations. More here.
Environment
Quantas Labs, a UK startup, raised $550k in seed funding. They are developing a solution to predict the erosion impact including erosion forecasting and using hyperspectral imaging to differentiate soil types for erosion assessments. More here.
Amini.ai, a Kenyan startup, raised $4m in seed funding. They are developing a centralized source of environmental data for Africa addressing the current data gap. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Operations]
Other
Antrum, a Michigan startup, raised $2.7m in seed funding. They provide a solution to provide real time monitoring of indoor air quality for commercial and residential properties. More here.
Bright Spaces, a UK startup, raised €2m in funding. They are developing a 3D space planning tool transforming 2D plans into 3D tours to assist with understanding and alignment on how an office space will look. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Support, 2 roles in Software]
Regulatory & Policy Changes
To define zero emissions for buildings, Biden administration seeks input
As mentioned in this issue, the US federal government plans to define what a ‘zero-emissions’ building is.
Industry stakeholders have until Feb 5 to provide information for Part 1 which addresses operational emissions
Sustainable building legislation currently differs from state to state, this will provide a framework and standardized and measurable basis for zero emission buildings.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs law to safeguard state from EV requirements
The law stops cities and towns from restricting the use or sale of a vehicle based on its fuel source and prevents state agencies from adopting California emission standards for motor vehicles.
Note:
Electrification is seen as a global measure to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
This involves replacing fossil fuel technology such as gas boilers with heat pumps or combustion engines with electric vehicles.
The resultant increased electricity demand (combined with intermittent renewables) is straining grid infrastructure and impacting energy cost.
Federal court won’t reconsider decision to overturn Berkeley, California, natural gas ban
The US court of appeals will not overturn its decision to overturn California’s first-in-the-nation ban on natural gas hookups in new construction.
The court agreed with California restaurant owners that the city overstepped the Federal Energy and Policy Conservation Act when it passed the ban.
The decision has led to others reconsidering their building electrification rules:
Eugene and Oregon reversed its gas ban.
Washington state changed its building codes which would have mandated electric heat pumps in new construction.
Related: Legal threats to city, state natural gas bans: A timeline
These New California Housing Laws Are Going Into Effect in 2024
SB4: The law allows 100% affordable housing developments to be built on land owned by religious institutions and non-profit colleges/universities. These would be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act. 171,000 acres of land would be eligible under this law.
SB423: This extends SB35 to apply till 2036. If a city has not met its state mandated housing target, cities are required to approve certain housing projects which meet minimum affordable housing requirements.
AB1449: This law exempts 100% affordable housing projects from the California Environmental Quality Act.
Note: Meeting environment regulations can delay the delivery of projects by years and impact cost. Exempting affordable housing projects from these requirements is expected to unlock housing supply.
Related: Why is it so expensive to build stuff in America?
New federal law aims to streamline construction payment practices (Canada)
The law seeks to resolve payment delays along the contracting chain.
The federal government is required to make payments within 28 calendar days of receiving a proper invoice from a contractor.
Subsequently the contractor has 7 days to pay subcontractors who then have 7 days to pay their subcontractors (and so on).
DOT Launches New Advisory Committee to Help Shape Federal Approach to Transportation Innovation
The committee will advise on planning and approaches to transportation innovation.
It is made of 27 members including researchers, safety experts, public officials and labor and industry representatives.
Acquisitions
Myers Industries, an Industrial products manufacturer, will acquire Signature Systems, which designs and manufactures composite matting systems to create safe, stable access roads and work platforms in soft and unstable ground conditions for $350m. More here.
AECOM, a global infrastructure consultancy, acquired Environmental Management and Planning solutions, a Colorado firm with a focus on environmental analysis, assessments and permitting. More here.
Bowman Consulting Group, a engineering services firm, acquired Hess-Rountree, a firm with a focus on renewable energy, education and sports facilities projects. More here.
Byggfakta, a Swedish construction software company, received a $1b buyout offer. More here.
News
What the demise of Superpedestrian means for the e-scooter industry (TechCrunch)
“The failings of the shared micromobility industry also provide us with a lesson — that transportation is a hard industry to sustain with VC money…these [are] high-volume, low-margin businesses.”
Ridesharing has decreased US traffic fatalities by 5.2% in areas of operation.
This is a $6.8b a year saving.
India’s Shift to Low-Carbon Construction Must Not Leave Workers Behind
India aims to reduce emissions intensity by 45% by 2030.
The construction sector accounts for 17% of its emissions and employs 59 million.
Extensive training and reskilling will be required to take advantage of sustainable construction opportunities.
Factory construction spending booms under Biden
This is increasing construction hiring with a job openings increasing by 43k last month
The overlooked tech that kept cities moving in 2023 (TechCrunch)
Can we create 'living buildings' made of fungi? And could they help us adapt to climate change?
Construction had the most fatalities of any industry last year
Introduction to Embodied Carbon for Advanced Building Construction
New Rockefeller Center attraction lets visitors recreate iconic 1932 photo of men on the beam
If I missed anything this week, please reply and let me know! I’ll make sure to include it next week.