Last Week in ConTech - 20 May 2024
Microsoft pours $50b into data center construction + Cambodia announces infrastructure masterplan
In this issue there are:
16 Startup Fundings
8 Policy and Regulatory Changes
6 New National Infrastructure Projects & Priorities
1 New investment fund
3 Acquisitions
8 News articles
Reading time: 15 mins
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Startup Funding
Building Materials
Mycocycle, an Illinois startup, raised $3.6m in extended Seed funding. They use fungi to convert construction waste and trash such as old tires into reusable bio based raw materials for the built environment. More here.
Supply Chain
Buildvision, a New York startup, raised $3m in Seed funding. They are developing a platform which simplifies the commercial construction procurement process by optimizing the sourcing, purchasing and financing flows. More here.
Notes:
Their solution has 3 core features:
It uses AI to extract data from mechanical and electrical schedules and specifications.
Organizes mechanical and electrical equipment into one dashboard and pairing it with alternate equipment which meets the specifications.
Requests competitive quotes from multiple manufacturers and reps for the products.
Design
Firmus, a Florida startup, raised funding (undisclosed). They developed an AI design review and risk analysis platform which allows early detection and mitigation of design issues such as incomplete design, scope gaps and discrepancies and offers an issue tracking, delegation and resolution platform. More here.
Monitoring
World View, an Arizona startup, raised $37m in funding. They develop remote sensing stratospheric balloon systems which can ascend 30km into the stratosphere providing on-demand, high-resolution sensing, weather monitoring and communication services. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Operations, 8 roles in Other]
Notes:
This solution flies 5x closer to Earth than a satellite capturing high resolution imagery in greater detail.
It can persist over an area for weeks at a time providing a clearer picture of changes on the ground vs a satellite which flies over an area at the same time every day.
There are applications for this solution for construction progress monitoring for remote and longer term observation.
AssetWatch, an Ohio startup, raised $38m in Series B funding. They offer software to help companies monitor assets, predict maintenance and prevent unexpected failures in components such as gearboxes, motors, pumps and compressors. More here.
[Hiring - 4 roles in Operations, 2 roles in Support, 2 roles in Finance, 3 roles in Sales, 1 role in Other]
Notes:
These predictive maintenance and real time monitoring solutions can be of critical importance to high risk works.
In critical sites where infrastructure is closed such as an overnight tunnel closure for asphalt resurfacing, each piece of machinery has to have a redundancy (e.g. 2 graders on site in case of breakdown).
At times machinery fails and a backup excavator physically moves it off the roadway to ensure reopening of the site.
With critical infrastructure, the cost of failure is incredibly high (e.g. traffic gridlocks) and these solutions could be used to ensure operation of machinery.
Drones
Dhaksha, an Indian startup, raised $18m in funding. They offer drone services across a variety of industries including construction offering services such as Site Preplan, Construction Monitoring, 3D modeling and Timescale Image Capturing. More here.
Maintenance
Honey Homes, a Californian startup, raised $9.25m in Series A-1 funding. They offer a membership service for home upkeep and maintenance with members paired to a dedicated handyperson for ongoing home improvements and preventative tasks managed through their mobile app. More here.
[Hiring - 2 roles in Operations, 1 role in Sales, 1 role in Support, 2 roles in Other]
Notes:
There is a huge opportunity in wrapping technology for the home / commercial services market. Tasks such as power cleaning, lawn mowing and landscaping require ongoing maintenance and could be translated into subscription fees.
While not directly the same, Foundametal’s cloud installer model thesis could be applied effectively to this market.
Asset Management
Asseti, an Australian startup, raised $2.5m in Seed funding. They are developing an AI property management platform which uses high quality imagery and machine learning to predict and prioritize maintenance needs by identifying wear and tear, leaks and hazardous to reduce asset downtime. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Sales]
Notes:
Mirvac, an Australian property developer, uses the software to maintain and monitor rooftops on its industrial assets and large warehouse sheds allowing predictive maintenance.
My Takeaway:
Companies such as Honey Homes (written above) should become preferred partners to these solutions.
Once a defect or maintenance requirement is found, the asset owners need contractors to repair the issue (if they don’t have an in-house team).
Offering a seamless quoting experience which uses data already captured on the platform is valuable lead generation.
Charging Infrastructure
Orange Charger, a San Francisco startup, raised $6.5m in Seed funding. They sell smart 240-volt electric charging outlets to apartment buildings and landlords for $750 to address the gap between generic power outlets and more costly commercial charging installations. More here.
[Hiring - 3 roles in Software, 1 role in Sales, 1 role in Marketing]
Notes:
Apartment dwellers with EV have 2 choices, public chargers or regular 120-volt outlets.
Rather than making landlords install Level 2 chargers, Orange Chargers offer 240-volt outlets which supply less power than a commercial unit but still add 150 miles over night.
The lower power draw means they require thinner gauge wires for installation reducing this cost by 33%.
Their go to market involves billing landlords based on energy usage rather than number of outlets installed.
Mapping
Magic Lane, a Dutch startup, raised €3m in funding. They are building a mapping and location platform which functions on minimal hardware and works offline making it ideal for the micro-mobility and specialized vehicles industry. More here.
Robots
Gausium, a Shanghai startup, raised $50m in Series D funding. They provide autonomous cleaning solutions for a variety of sectors including car parks and transportation hubs. More here.
[Hiring - 3 roles in Operations, 4 roles in Sales, 1 role in Finance, 1 role in Support, 1 role in Other]
Hydrogen
ULEMCo, a UK startup, raised £5m in funding. They develop dual fuel solutions which enable heavy duty vehicles such as refuse trucks and road sweepers to run off hydrogen but continue to use diesel where necessary allowing decarbonization of existing fleets. More here.
[Hiring - 4 roles in Other]
Notes:
It is becoming increasingly evident that electrification is placing an increasing strain on the electricity grid and power availability (when combined with increasing AI data center demand).
Alternative low carbon fuel sources such as hydrogen are required to meet climate goals while reducing pressure on the grid.
Related:
Energy
Caeli Wind, a Berlin startup, raised €11m in funding. They provide a marketplace for wind energy site analysis identifying new wind turbine locations and allocating them to project developers and energy suppliers including providing free analysis of the property including profitability, planning laws, faunistic initial report etc and nationwide marketing of the property for tender. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Sales]
Active Surfaces, a Massachusetts startup, raised a $5.6m pre-seed round. They develop lightweight, thin and flexible solar panels which can be easily installed and integrated in a larger variety of surfaces. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Sales, 1 role in Other]
Notes:
A key metric in solar cells is photovoltaic conversion efficiency (the percentage of incident solar energy that is converted to electricity) which is only around ~17-20%.
Instead of focusing on improving efficiency, Active Surfaces are working on increasing the installation surface area.
The flexible solution means that solar cells can be further integrated into the built environment to increase capacity without requiring efficiency improvements.
Ndustrial, a North Carolina startup, raised $18.5m in Series B funding. They optimize industrial energy consumption providing real time data, assisting with decarbonization and Scope 3 emissions reporting. This solution could have applications for the cement and building material sector. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Operations, 1 role in Construction, 1 role in Product, 1 role in Support, 1 role in Software, 1 role in Other]
Modular
Ademeure, a French startup, raised €5m in funding. They started as a traditional wooden construction company and have now pivoted to the delivery of modular tiny homes built from a configurable base with advisors guiding customers through the sales journey and customization process. More here.
Policy and Regulatory Changes
ADVANCE Act’s comprehensive nuclear legislation shows progress on the Hill (US)
The Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act passed the House of Representatives.
The general purpose of the ADVANCE Act is to support the deployment of U.S. advanced reactors both domestically and overseas.
It includes a number of provisions aimed at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing process, strengthening the workforce at the NRC and updating the NRC’s export authority and processes and other provisions.
Notes:
Support for the construction of nuclear power is growing.
OSHA heat standard clears regulatory hurdle
The Department of Labor is closer to publishing a rule which protects construction workers from heat stress and illness.
The advisory committee recommended that the Occupational Health and Safety move forward with creating a new heat standard.
FERC Takes on Long-Term Planning with Historic Transmission Rule
The rule requires transmission operators to conduct and periodically update long-term transmission planning over a 20-year time horizon to anticipate future need.
It also provides for cost-effective expansion of transmission that is being replaced, when needed, known as “right-sizing” transmission facilities.
It expressly provides for the states’ pivotal role throughout the process of planning, selecting, and determining how to pay for transmission lines.
Notes:
Longer term planning rules are required as the grid shifts to renewable energy sources and climate change is impacting resiliency.
US Senate passes FAA authorisation with $20bn for airport construction
The US Senate approved legislation which reauthorized the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for another five years at a cost of US$105 billion.
It included a $19.7 billion provision authorizing the Airport Improvement Program (AIP).
Increased funding for the program could assist continued growth in the US airport construction segment.
Smart community technologies get USDOT grant funding opportunity
The U.S. Department of Transportation is accepting applications for stage 1 of the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation grants program.
The program supports advanced smart community technologies and systems that improve transportation safety and efficiency.
It’s a $500m, 5 year program in its 3rd year.
DOE awards $1.7B conditional loan guarantee to Plug Power to build 6 clean hydrogen factories
Plug Power has received an up to $1.66 billion conditional loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office.
This will be used to finance the development and construction of up to six hydrogen production facilities.
The loan will support the creation of a commercial-scale clean hydrogen fueling network in several regions of the country.
Virtual power plants, DERs and home electrification get boost from trio of new Maryland laws
Three new bills, the DRIVE Act, Brighter Tomorrow Act and an update to the emPOWER Act were passed in Maryland.
These require utilities to support virtual power plants, bidirectional EV charging and reduce barriers for residential solar installations and rework an existing home efficiency program to prioritize meaningful greenhouse gas reductions.
China Is Raising Bullet Train Fares as Debts and Costs Balloon
China is increasing fares for riders on four major bullet train lines to address rising costs and heavy debts since construction of the system.
The higher prices for train tickets are part of a push to raise prices for public services.
Public services in China are heavily subsidized by local governments.
But huge municipal debts mean that these governments have less money for subsidies.
Infrastructure spending in China’s most indebted provinces has been reduced in return for debt relief.
Leadership is shifting the country’s growth strategy from infrastructure and real estate toward high-tech manufacturing and exports.
National Infrastructure Projects & Priorities
Global
Solar and wind drive renewables past 30% of global power
Renewables provided over 30% of global electricity in 2023 for the first time.
This growth is being driven by the rising share of solar and wind, which was up to 13.4% in 2023 from 0.2% in 2000.
In 2023, growth in solar PV generation capacity outpaced that of wind in 2023.
US
Biden Set to Hit China EVs, Strategic Sectors With Tariffs
The tariff rate on Chinese electric vehicles, batteries and solar cells is expected to quadruple from roughly 25% to 100%.
This is to protect domestic cleantech industries and help the US improve relative to China.
It is expected to result in Chinese trade retaliation and a rise in solar and battery costs if passed.
Notes:
As demand for green manufacturing continues to rise, Western nations are increasingly applying tariffs to spur local industry.
This is resulting in investment in domestic manufacturing capability and nearshoring (covered in this issue) of the supply chain.
Mexico is emerging as a major winner and domestic manufacturing construction is a growth area.
Additionally in the context of the election, policies which protect American industry and workers from foreign competition, could be key to win swing states.
Related:
EU probes into Chinese subsidies and imports
They have launched an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles to determine whether to impose punitive tariffs on them.
France
Microsoft announces the largest investment to date in France
Microsoft announced a €4b cash envelope to build more data centers and expand existing ones in France by 2023.
Notes:
Microsoft plans on spending $50 billion between July 2023 and June 2024 on data center expansion in Wisconsin, Thailand, Indonesia, Spain, Germany and Japan.
This is having a negative impact on their carbon emissions which are up 30% since 2020.
They have a goal to be net zero by 2030 and to achieve this they have signed two of the largest agreements to date for the construction of renewable energy and provision of carbon removal technologies.
Microsoft and Big Tech will become more active players within the construction sector as they balance the need for AI data centers and climate goals.
Tracking and understanding their ‘infrastructure policy and imperatives’ and resultant opportunities by reviewing filings of their strategy plan presentations for investors should be in the purview of consultant and contractors strategy teams.
United Kingdom
Britain to build Europe’s first next generation nuclear fuel facility
Britain is investing almost £200m to build a high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel facility.
This fuel will be used to power nuclear energy projects.
Britain is seeking to increase its nuclear power capacity to 24 gigawatts by 2050.
Notes:
Interest in nuclear power as a power source is rising.
It could serve as the backbone of a clean energy grid providing guaranteed baseline supply in the midst of intermittent renewables.
The cost of constructing nuclear power plants remains high, however companies such as Last Energy are developing small modular reactors to reduce delivery costs.
Cambodia
As Cambodia launches $36.6bn building drive, China, Japan fight for spoils
Cambodia has unveiled a 174-project master plan to overhaul the national transportation and logistics network in a decade.
The goal is to add expressways, high-speed rail lines and other works that fit closely with the state’s goal of becoming an upper-middle-income country in 2030 and a high-income nation by 2050.
South Korea
South Korea Plans $7.3 Billion Program to Support Chip Industry
Korea is the world’s largest producer of memory chips.
The funding will be used to bolster the critical industry.
In January they announced plans to spend over $470b building the world’s largest chipmaking cluster.
As part of this they will spend the money to build 13 new chip plants and three research facilities, on top of an existing 21 fabs.
Japan and Taiwan are both investing aggressively in their chip sectors.
Notes:
Construction in semiconductor manufacturing facilities is growing and resulting in skilled labor shortages in the industry.
This is being felt in Arizona where TSMC is attempting to construct a new facility but facing worker shortages.
As cash flows into these countries' domestic sectors, nations will find themselves in competition for highly technical and specialized construction professionals in semiconductor plant manufacturing.
Related:
Investment funds
KKR, an investment firm and HASI, a climate solutions investor, have committed $2b together to invest in climate positive infrastructure projects in the US. More here.
Acquisitions
In Q1 2024, WSP, a global consulting and engineering firm, made 4 acquisitions:
AKF, a New York city mechanical, electrical and plumbing firm which designs complex healthcare, science and technology and mission-critical facilities.
Communica Public Affairs, a Canadian indigenous and stakeholder engagement and information management consulting firm.
Prozion Pro and Proxion Plan, Finnish railway companies.
1A Ingenieros, a Spanish consulting firm focusing on the power and energy sector.
More here.
JLL, a global real estate company, is acquiring SKAE Power Solutions, a New York company providing data center technical and project management services. More here.
Pango, an Israeli digital parking services company, acquired Gett, a taxi hailing company for $175m. More here.
News
ACCIONA has acquired a GEH2® zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell generator set.
Their objective is to promote its use on national and international construction sites where it is needed.
This pilot project is the first experience at a national level in the construction sector in which a generator set with these characteristics is fully operational.
Outcome-as-a-Service in AEC-Tech (Patric Hellermann, Partner - Foundamental)
BlueScopeX sponsors initiative to advance innovation in green construction across Asean
They are joining the Australia Green Economy Innovation Challenge (AGEIC) program organized by Enterprise Singapore.
This program is to drive funding and development of innovative technologies to deliver sustainable transformation in construction.
Solar Storm Knocks Out Farmers' Tractor GPS Systems During Peak Planting Season
“All the tractors are sitting at the ends of the field right now shut down because of the solar storm. No GPS.”
Notes:
Autonomous systems are reliant on a vulnerable GPS system.
This startup established a Bluetooth connection from space. Here's what that means
The breakthrough could have major implications for the future of IoT.
Hubble Network achieved this by upgrading regular, off-the-shelf Bluetooth devices with new software.
They aim to create a global satellite network that any Bluetooth-enabled device can connect to.
Small modular reactors are paving the way for nuclear energy’s renaissance
Record U.S. Infrastructure Spending Is Colliding With Higher Construction Costs And Other Hurdles
Infrastructure spending continues to ramp up in 2024 as approximately $1.8 trillion in federal grants, loans, incentives, tax credits, and other financial assistance works its way into the U.S. economy.
US Gas Producers Prepare to Pounce on Data Center Demand
US data center hot spots will strategically emerge in close proximity to natural gas basins.
If I missed anything this week, please reply and let me know! I’ll make sure to include it next week.