Last Week in ConTech - 29 January 2024
Are all-electric building codes illegal? And increasing nuclear energy construction
A summary of the construction technology (ConTech) startup funding, news, acquisitions, policy and regulatory changes which occurred this week.
Last Week in ConTech - 29 January 2024
Note: This issue may appear truncated in your inbox due to the length, click here to view online.
In this issue there are:
20 Startup Fundings
8 Policy and Regulatory Changes
2 New investment funds
6 Acquisitions
9 News articles
Reading time: 9m 40s
Startup Funding
Water Infrastructure
VAPAR, an Australian startup, has raised $5m in funding. They offer a platform for water and sewage pipeline maintenance and condition assessments for councils and utilities. CCTV pipe inspections can be uploaded and defects automatically categorised and exported in an easy to read format. More here.
Procurement
CheckSammy, a Texas startup, raised $45m in funding. They provide on demand, same day bulk waste removal and sustainability services through operating a marketplace connecting independent waste haulers and service providers with enterprise customers. More here.
[Hiring - 3 roles in Sales, 1 role in Design]
Bulk Exchange, a California based startup, raised $4.5m in seed funding. They operate a material marketplace helping contractors buy and dispose materials in bulk. More here.
ProcurePro, an Australian startup, raised $6.15m in funding. They are building a procurement platform maintaining subcontractor agreements, scopes of work, scheduling and procurement milestones to help contractors monitor the status of subcontracted work. More here.
[Hiring - 2 roles in Support, 1 role in HR]
(Thanks Gerard de Valence for sending this through - he writes a great substack Construction Industry Economics and Policy)
Building Decarbonization
Tynt Technologies, a Colorado startup, raised $7.1m in funding. They build smart windows allowing homeowners to dynamically control window tinting from clear to blackout. More here.
Brite Solar, a Greek startup, raised €8.6m in Series A funding. They develop electrochromic (smart) glass. More here.
Deep Green, a London startup, raised $254m in funding. They build data centres and recapture the heat produced to provide cheap energy for buildings. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Sales]
Metris, a London startup, raised $2.5m in pre-seed funding. They use AI to provide commercial property owners with detailed solar evaluations, quantify the economic advantages of adopting solar energy and streamline selling it to tenants. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Operations]
Environment
SeeTree, an Israeli startup, raised $17.5m in Series C funding. They have developed a tree monitoring platform using drones, ground sensors, AI and multi-spectral imaging to help track the health and productivity of orchards and forests. More here.
Building Materials
Concrete4Change, a British startup, raised £2.5m in seed funding. They are an advanced materials company which permanently captures and uses CO2 by mineralising it in concrete resulting in a 20% stronger material and a CO2 sink which prevents leaks even after demolition. Zacua Ventures led the round. More here.
[Hiring - 3 roles in Other]
EcoMaterial, a Utah startup, raised $125m in debt funding. They produce sustainable cement alternatives. More here.
Monitoring
OctaiPipe, a London startup, raised 3m in pre-Series A funding. They are building an Edge AI platform for industrial IoT that offers a secure end-to-end Federated Learning solution for data scientists and AI engineers. More here.
Notes from article:
In conventional networks data is sent from a sensor to the cloud for processing.
A new paradigm is Edge Computing. This is where data is processed closer to where it originates (the sensor).
The benefit is that in rugged environments (like construction) less data is sent to the cloud reducing latency, energy and bandwidth.
OctaiPipe’s Federated Learning model is a decentralised approach to training AI models.
They use data captured on an IoT (Internet of Things) device to train the AI model locally (rather than on the cloud). This maximises performance, increases data security and reduces cost.
They have found traction in the critical infrastructure market. Given the scale of energy, utilities and telecom networks, sending data to the cloud is expensive and time consuming. Processing and updating models on the ‘edge’ reduces costs while maintaining accuracy, security and privacy.
[Read the article for more details on this system]
AiDash, a Californian startup raised $50m in Series C funding. They provide a satellite platform for infrastructure operations and maintenance using AI to spot fire and weather risks to increase infrastructure climate resiliency. More here.
[Hiring - 30 roles in Software, 3 roles in Design, 5 roles in Marketing, 5 roles in operations, 2 roles in HR, 3 roles in Support, 11 roles in Other]
Digital Twin
Willow, an Australian startup, raised $18.2m in equity. They provide digital twin software of properties and infrastructure to improve operational efficiency and reduce risk. More here.
[Hiring - 4 roles in Software, 1 role in Sales, 8 roles in Other]
Mapping
Albedo, a Colorado startup, raised $35m in funding. They provide high resolution satellite imagery by utilising satellites in very low Earth orbit. More here.
Labor & Training
UpSmith, a Dallas startup, raised $5m in funding. They are building a skilled trades labor platform to help businesses recruit, train and retain skilled workers. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Software, 1 role in Sales]
Taqtile, a Washington state startup, raised investment (undisclosed). They provide an augmented reality (AR) work instruction solution translating video into step by step instruction helping train workforces to perform operational and maintenance tasks accurately. More here.
Maintenance
Spotr, a Dutch startup, raised €4.5m in funding. They are building the largest image driven property database to support AI powered building inspections to tackle issues such as underinsurance and identify decarbonization opportunities. More here.
Construction
Instagrid, a German startup, raised $95m in Series C funding. They build batteries which act as generators to power mobile work in construction, film, events and emergency services. More here.
[Hiring - 12 roles in Software, 1 role in Design, 18 roles in Marketing, 4 roles in operations, 5 roles in HR, 15 roles in Other]
Other
Digs, a Washington state startup, raised $7m in seed extension funding. They are building a collaboration platform for home builders and owners aiming to improve communication between both parties. More here.
Regulatory & Policy Changes
Regulatory and Policy Changes
U.S. Invests Over $100 Million in Projects to Decarbonize Federal Buildings
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $104 million of investments in net zero-focused energy conservation and clean energy projects at 31 Federal facilities.
This includes initiatives to boost building electrification, add on-site solar, and install heat pumps.
This will be delivered as part of a $250m funding program, Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT).
America’s Biggest Universal Basic Mobility Experiment Is Taking Place in L.A.
LA has been running a universal basic mobility wallet scheme offering $150 per month to use on any type of transportation (other than cars) to residents since April.
Early results show that most money was spent on ride hailing services and most rides were used with public transport.
Are all-electric building codes illegal?
The state of California encourages new buildings to use efficient electric heating.
Municipalities can adopt local building code enhancements beyond state’s standards. These are called ‘reach codes’.
In 2022, there was a rise of energy orientated ‘reach codes’ to meet climate goals by cities.
However, in April 2023 (as discussed here) the court of appeals found that a gas ban did conflict with federal laws. This caused municipalities to reconsider their bids for ‘reach codes’.
As a result municipalities have become creative in application of bans by using either:
Performance standards - based on emissions rather than energy.
Tightening the state requirements for ‘energy source’, a proxy for emissions in their reach codes.
Municipalities have a desire to discourage homeowners from installing appliances that will soon be out-of-date. However the way in which they apply these measures are changing.
Related:
Chicago mayor proposes natural gas ban in new buildings
The mayor on Jan. 24 introduced an ordinance which would effectively ban natural gas hookups in new construction and additions over 10,000 square feet.
Roadmap sets out how the UK will increase nuclear generation by up to 4 times to 24GW by 2050.
The UK has promised to 4x nuclear power by 2050.
This follows a wider trend of nuclear energy adoption and infrastructure construction:
At COP28 30 nations promised to 3x global nuclear energy production by 2050.
60 reactors are currently under construction worldwide with 110 more planned.
China has approved construction of four new reactors.
Related:
Small modular nuclear reactors (SMR) are a growing trend. As mentioned in this issue Illinois (US) also now allows construction of SMR.
Westinghouse is building a portable nuclear microreactor.
FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Nearly $5 Billion for Major Transportation Projects Nationwide
Funding announced will support 37 bridge, road, truck parking and container infrastructure projects across the country.
EU pushes to shield deeptech startups from Chinese takeovers
The proposals make it harder for investors from ‘rival’ countries to take over EU startups developing critical tech.
The Commission proposed that all 27 EU member states screen and potentially block foreign takeovers of tech businesses in AI, advanced semiconductors, quantum and biotech.
Brussels also wants uniform EU controls on the export of dual-use technologies to countries such as China or Russia, and increased funding for EU universities and companies developing them.
ASHRAE updates energy efficiency standard for existing buildings
ASHRAE released the latest edition of its energy efficiency standard for existing buildings.
U.S. municipalities usually adopt the professional society’s standards as part of their standards.
This edition has an expanded focus on building decarbonization including metrics for emissions targets, requirements for energy management plans and performance goals.
These startups are teaming up to decarbonize cement and concrete
10 low carbon cement startups have formed the ‘Decarbonized Cement and Concrete Alliance (DC2)’.
They aim to promote policies and public sector procurement of green building materials.
Federal, state and local agencies purchase about half of all the concrete that’s poured and cast in the United States.
New Funds & Acquisitions
Macquarie has raised €8bn for an Europe infrastructure fund. More here.
Asterion Industrial Partners, Spain’s largest private equity firm is raising a new European Infrastructure fund worth over $2.2b. More here.
AEC M&A activity report for Q4 2023 (Zweig group)
Autodesk, an AEC software corporation, is acquiring Payapps, an Australian construction payment and compliance management software. More here.
LandTech, a land development tool for developers, acquired Built-ID, a community engagement tool. More here.
EVORA Global, an environmental consultant, acquired Metry, a platform for environmental data collection. More here.
H.I.G Capital, a PE firm, acquired CHA consulting a New York infrastructure project consultancy. More here.
Monomoy Capital Partners, a PE firm, acquired EnviroTech Services, a Colorado company providing winter road surface products and maintenance services. More here.
RoadSafe Traffic Systems, an Illinois company acquired B.C. Cannon, a South Carolina company providing traffic control services to heavy highway and utility companies. More here.
News
CEMEX Ventures has released their top 50 ConTech Startups of 2024. Access the list and report here.
5 Interesting Learnings from Procore at $1 Billion in ARR
Construction is about managing the negative long tail (Linkedin Post by Josh Whisenant)
How Stable Dynamic Pricing can save the EV charging industry
Most major EV charging networks have set static prices for states based on average energy costs and competitive prices.
This approach leads to missed revenue and financial losses.
The dynamic system has seen a boost in revenue by up to 40% in 3 months.
John Deere Announces Strategic Partnership with SpaceX to Expand Rural Connectivity
The solution will connect new and existing machines through satellite internet services.
This will enable technologies such as autonomy, real time data communication, remote diagnostics and machine to machine communication while minimizing downtime.
UNSUSTAINABLE: Industrial heat & steam (2150)
More heavy rainfall, flooding prompt NYC to create innovation working groups
Flywheel wrapped: Looking back at the US secondary micromobility market in 2023
Caution Key to Investing in Construction Tech Startups This Year, Cemex Says
If I missed anything this week, please reply and let me know! I’ll make sure to include it next week.