Last Week in ConTech - 15 April 2024
What is geoeconomics?
In this issue there are:
14 Startup Fundings
9 Policy and Regulatory Changes
5 New National Infrastructure Projects & Priorities
3 New investment funds
1 Acquisitions
10 News articles
Reading time: 12 mins
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Startup Funding
Building Decarbonization
LEDCity, a Swiss startup, raised CHF$2m in funding. They have developed a plug and play lighting system that reduces energy consumption by 80% by integrating algorithms and sensors into each light source for autonomous and dynamic light control. More here.
[Hiring - 5 roles in Sales, 1 role in Other]
Arcadia, a Washington startup, raised $50m in funding. They have built a platform that centralizes energy data assisting with the tracking of energy usage which allows asset managers and property owners to improve energy management and consumption. More here.
[Hiring - 6 roles in Software, 1 role in Other]
AI
Mode, a Californian startup, raised $8.8m Series B funding. They are developing a generative AI assistant for the construction industry which connects to all the sensors and cameras on site to provide real time job site analysis. More here.
[Hiring - 4 roles in Software, 3 role in Sales, 2 roles in Operations]
Notes:
A construction company used the solution on a tunnel construction site for boring underneath the water table.
The AI was connected to sensors set to detect water seeping into the tunnel and was used to monitor the water pump and notify the team of issues.
Mapping
Waymap, a London startup, raised £7m in funding. They offer a navigation app which works outdoors, indoors and deep underground without the use of GPS, WiFI or Mobile Data with accuracy up to 1m. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Software]
Insurance
Honey Insurance, an Australian startup, raised $108m in Series A funding. They provide home insurance by integrating AI, satellite imagery and smart home technology into its products to offer a more personalized insurance experience. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Software, 1 role in Support]
Notes:
A Honey policy comes with 3 smart sensors to track water, damage, fire and theft.
Customers who use the sensors receive a discount on their premium as the sensors reduce claims and payouts by Honey.
If this approach works, it could be replicated in commercial property and construction sites.
By providing sensors for monitoring of critical activities which result in claims, payouts could be minimized.
Materials
CleanFiber, a New York startup, raised $28m in Series B funding. They transform cardboard into building insulation material. More here.
Notes:
Cellulose insulation was traditionally created through shredding newspapers.
As newspapers have declined and with the rise of e-commerce, cardboard has been seen as an alternative.
Boxes however have contaminants such as tape, shipping labels and stables - making repurposing the material for insulation difficult.
CleanFiber has been working on the problem and their solution so far has been able to produce enough insulation for about 20,000 single-family homes.
Neocrete, a New Zealand startup, raised $4m in seed funding. They develop technology to activate low carbon materials such as volcanic ash to replace cement in concrete without the carbon intensive and costly manufacturing processes usually required. This can reduce cement in concrete by 30-50%, with no loss in strength, while increasing its durability. More here.
NobleAI, a San Francisco startup, raised $10m in extended Series A funding. They use machine learning combined with scientific laws and principles to reduce research time and accelerate product development, even when they are dealing with small private or industry-specific data sets. More here.
[Hiring - 2 roles in Software, 1 role in Sales]
Notes:
Construction and building materials are listed as an application of their chemical material development solution.
Construction Fleets
Yoshi Mobility, a Tennessee startup, raised $26m in Series C funding. They provide mobile automotive services such as refueling, washing, detailing, oil changes, and vehicle inspections at the customer's location. More here.
Notes:
This could be valuable if applied to construction fleets supporting inspections and maintenance on site thereby reducing downtime.
Rail
Railroad software, a US startup, raised investment (undisclosed). They develop rail operations and managed services software including railroad track inspection software for Federal Railroad Administration compliance. More here.
[Hiring - 1 roles in Support]
Hyperloop
Swisspod, a Swiss startup, received investment (undisclosed). They are a hyperloop startup and have built the first operational hyperloop infrastructure in Europe and begun testing. More here.
[Hiring - 3 roles in Software, 2 roles in Operations, 2 roles in Other]
Augmented Reality
Basemark, a Finnish startup, raised €22m in Series B funding. They enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to develop AR applications for the heads up displays in their vehicles. More here.
[Hiring - 3 roles in Software, 1 role in Design]
Notes:
The solution makes it easy to project real-time contextual guidance, alerts and other AR content onto a vehicle windshield.
While primarily developed for cars, this solution could be used by construction equipment manufacturers to improve safety on site through AR applications and even to provide guidance on construction activities (it could be linked to overlay the design model).
Environment
Iceberg Data Lab, a Parisian startup, raised $10m in Series A funding. They provide environmental data to assist with regulatory compliance for financial institutions and asset owners. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Sales]
Notes:
Financial institutions are facing a surge in environmental regulation such as the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
These frameworks strengthen rules on environmental risk reporting and investment portfolio impacts on climate, nature, and biodiversity.
This will affect large scale infrastructure investors and asset owners impacting capital flows and how infrastructure projects collect and account for environmental data and risks.
Other
Blackswan Space, a Lithuanian startup, raised €760k in pre-seed funding. They develop autonomy as a service technology which automates satellite servicing and refueling as well as simulating maneuvers. More here.
[Hiring - 2 roles in Software]
Notes:
As I discussed this week on Linkedin, Construction Tech and Space Tech will rapidly converge.
The core thesis is that building infrastructure for habitats on the Moon and Mars (NASA is planning construction by 2030) requires improvements in construction tech.
As autonomous robots and systems become the norm (no human labor on the moon), autonomous maintenance robots will be needed to service them.
These autonomous maintenance solutions are already being explored for smart city environments.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs), when not being used for trips, will idle in staging areas accessible by multiple fleet operators (Lyft, Uber, etc.).
These staging areas will have autonomous robots servicing the AVs, providing maintenance, refueling, and cleaning before their next trip.
Similarly, as construction tech solutions are deployed in space, an entire system of autonomous maintenance and operation solutions will need to be developed to support operations.
Policy and Regulatory Changes
SEC stays climate-risk disclosure rule as it works through legal challenges
As discussed in this issue, the SEC approved new climate disclosure rules which were weaker than expected.
They currently face several challenges to the proposed rules in court.
They will halt implementation of the rules as it works through the challenges.
Bidirectional EV charging, VPP bill passes Maryland Assembly, heads to governor’s desk
The Distributed Renewable Integration and Vehicle Electrification Act requires electric utilities to expedite bidirectional EV charging systems and support vehicle-to-grid charging plans.
If signed into law, utility customers with access to distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar or home batteries could earn for providing grid services.
An example pilot in California generated ~30 megaways of energy from ~8500 residential solar and storage systems helping to reduce strain on the local grid.
What federal officials want to see in critical infrastructure cyber incident reports
The rules apply to organizations which operate in the 16 critical infrastructure sectors (~316,000 organizations).
They are aimed at getting organizations to disclose security incidents and will compel operators and suppliers to provide information on cyberattacks and ransom payments.
Entities must provide a report within 72 hours if they reasonably believe an incident has occurred and file a report within 24 hours if a ransom payment is made.
Rooftop heat pump technologies can save US businesses $5B annually: DOE
The US Department of Energy announced a Commercial Building Heat Pump Accelerator program.
The aim is to help manufacturers develop heat pumps that can replace less efficient rooftop heating and cooling systems.
It is in response to the low deployment of heat pumps.
Toronto Wants to Manage Storms and Floods—With a Rain Tax
The tax is intended to help offset the hundreds of millions spent managing stormwater and basement flooding.
It would charge Toronto homeowners and businesses for paved surfaces on their properties.
As India gives effect to new highway-building playbook, a key change in measuring method is coming
India is planning to build more expressways and roads which have at least four lanes.
To support this, they are shifting the measuring method from ‘road km’ to ‘lane km’.
Notes:
Seemingly benign, this belays an important shift as targets influence incentives.
Under the old model there is an incentive to minimize cost per road km - this does not account for the width of the road.
A 2-lane highway and a 6-lane highway’s cost is currently measured using the per km standard. This results in unfavorable economics for wider highways and less incentive / justification to fund them.
It has resulted in domestic controversy as highways appear to have increasing construction costs.
‘Infrastructure academy’ coming to Austin
Austin has over $25b in civil work underway.
To help deliver and staff these works, they are launching an Infrastructure Academy.
The academy will provide transportation, childcare and other services to attract recruits and will be a training hub to ensure programs meet needs identified by job creators and seekers.
U.S. DOT releases $830M for resilience projects
The funding will be used to make transportation systems more resilient to extreme weather such as flooding.
It is expected to support bridges, roads, ports, rail and other infrastructure.
Ontario proposes allowing 18-storey mass timber buildings (Canada)
Officials say that mass timber will provide the opportunity for housing construction to be shifted offsite.
Ontario is conducting a review which would allow for expanded use of the material in the province.
The building code currently only allows mass timber buildings to be up to 12 storeys tall.
National Infrastructure Projects & Priorities
World’s biggest offshore wind project wins environmental approval
A offshore wind farm (5.5 gigawatts), the largest planned to date, has been given environmental approval for development in Sweden.
India aims to produce 100 GW nuclear power by 2047
This is a 1250% increase from current levels and an ambitious policy shift.
As part of this, it was noted that if India aims to phase down coal use, it will need to build adequate infrastructure for nuclear power as well as flexible grid infrastructure and storage to support the integration of renewables.
Notes:
The problems currently faced by the US in relation to the upgrading of their current grid infrastructure will also be faced by developing nations.
The energy transition to a flexible grid with renewable energy is one of the most ambitious and challenging infrastructure projects of this decade. The solutions and processes which win will be adopted by countries worldwide.
Albanese to unveil Australia's answer to the US Inflation Reduction Act
The ‘Future Made in Australia Act’ is an attempt to help compete with other countries in the ‘new economy.’
It will be introduced later this year and builds on existing measures such as $4 billion in cheap loans for the critical minerals industry, $1 billion for domestic production of solar panels, the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) and the Net Zero Economy Authority.
Notes:
Increasingly, we are moving towards a ‘geoeconomic’ world economy where nations use economic relations as tools to achieve their strategic goals.
Examples of geoeconomics could include coercing a country to change its policies by blocking imports or preventing advanced technology reaching a rival (i.e advanced semiconductors).
An example of this philosophy at play are western countries' attempts to start a manufacturing renaissance (onshoring of semiconductor construction in the US is an example).
To support this, they are introducing regulation to protect domestic companies from overseas competition and using sustainability as a lever.
This in turn is resulting in an increase in the deployment of industrial infrastructure with companies in this sector receiving increased work.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: JinkoSolar breaks ground on 56 GW solar factory
The factory represents a $7.8b investment.
At full capacity, this is more manufacturing capacity for solar that the US installed nationwide in 2023.
India’s Dedicated Freight Corridor Program: Progress and Prospects
The article provides an overview of freight and logistics movement in India.
India has the 3rd largest railway network in the world and it is nationalized.
They are implementing a high speed rail with support from the Government of Japan.
In developing their rail network they established a Special Purpose Vehicle, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), which undertakes the planning & development, mobilization of financial resources, construction, operation & maintenance, and business development of the DFCs.
Investment funds
Maniv Mobility, an Israeli investment firm, raised $140m to invest in early stage transportation, energy and mobility companies. More here.
Clearance Venture Partners, the VC arm of Clearance Capital Limited has launched focusing on Pre-seed and Seed stage investments across Europe and the UK that are innovating to change the built world. More here.
Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, a UK investment firm, raised $600m to invest in solar and storage projects. More here.
Acquisitions
ServiceTitan, a US business management software for trades industries including HVAC and roofing, is acquiring Convex, a San Francisco company which provides a sales and marketing platform for the commercial building services industry. More here.
News
Tradespeople wanted: The need for critical trade skills in the US (McKinsey)
Mexico City’s Metro System Is Sinking Fast. Yours Could Be Next
What Progress Has Icon Made on 3D-Printed Homes? (Construction Physics)
These startups help busy contractors get electrification rebates faster
Rebates are a cornerstone of the goal to electrify 115 million U.S. homes.
Utilities offer more than $2b in residential efficiency and electrification rebates
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act will provide another $8.8b in rebates.
Startups such as Sealed, Rock Rabbit and Eli Technologies help make rebased easier by aggregating rebates, streamlining applications and notifying contractors of approvals.
This city wants to deconstruct buildings to balance climate goals with growth
Most cities find that demolition results in the loss of tens of thousands of tons of reusable items worth millions of dollars.
Tacoma is studying ways to increase building material reuse through deconstruction and salvage.
How cities are building out public EV charging infrastructure
Decentralizing the Electric Grid (a16z)
This article provides a breakdown on the transition of the grid from a “hub and spoke” model to more of a distributed network and the challenges associated with it. A highlight:
Grid outages (largely weather-related) are at a 20-year high and we need replacement hardware.
Grid construction however faces supply chain hurdles with lead times of more than 12 months and a 400% price surge for large-power transformers, compounded by a shortage of specialized steel.
Few Stations and $200 to Fill Up: Life on California’s ‘Hydrogen Highway’ (Bloomberg)
The state committed $250 million toward building out a network of stations for hydrogen fuel cell cars.
Last year Shell declined a $41 million state grant to build 50 stations, and California scaled back its target to 130 stations by 2027.
A total of 66 stations remain while there are over 105,000 charging stations for plug-in vehicles in California.
Big winner in Biden’s EV charging revolution: Gas stations
Venture Capital Trends in Proptech: Funding by Sector Survey
Construction Technology has 45% of investors engaged / interested.
There is a growing focus on efficiency and innovation in building processes.
If I missed anything this week, please reply and let me know! I’ll make sure to include it next week.