Last Week in ConTech - 17 November 2025
How Will We Power The Future?
Deep Insight: How Will We Power The Future?
Last week, Microsoft’s CEO said that the real constraint in AI is not compute supply but power.
It comes at a time when two new data center projects in California may sit empty for years because the local utility cannot deliver electricity. At the same time Dominion Energy has warned that the time it takes to connect a large data center to the grid is rising to roughly four to seven years.
This hasn’t stopped big tech from building.
Meta plans to spend $600 billion on AI data centers over the next three years. Microsoft will double its data center footprint over the next two years. OpenAI will spend $1.15 trillion on hardware & cloud infrastructure between 2025 and 2035.
This demand is creating concerns about power availability and climate targets.
Data centers accounted for 4.4% of US power consumption in 2023 and by 2028, this could reach 12%. At the same time, Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft disclosed that their emissions went up 64%, 51%, 33% and 23%. In response they have turned to power purchase agreements with renewable suppliers.
In the first half of 2025 they secured 9.6 GW of clean energy in the US, roughly 40% of global purchases. It still falls short of the 362 GW of additional power the industry is projected to need worldwide by 2035.
But even if you have clean energy, you still need to transmit it.
31% of US transmission and 46% of distribution assets are beyond or near the end of their useful life. Replacement shortages persist with power and distribution transformers facing supply deficits of 30% and 10% in 2025 with utilities expect to spend $1.1 trillion on upgrades over the second half of this decade.
And now to protect consumers, regulators are placing the cost burden of upgrades on the data center.
Michigan’s Public Service Commission adopted a new rate structure requiring data centers to sign long term power contracts and show that they will shoulder all costs to build transmission lines, substations and other infrastructure before adding them to the grid.
These changes will continue to increase costs for developers and while capital seems limitless for now, we have to ask, how long will this last?
In this issue there are:
13 Startup Fundings
1 Startup Out of Stealth
15 Policy and Regulatory Changes
8 New National Infrastructure Projects & Priorities
0 New investment funds
0 Acquisitions
8 News articles
32 new jobs posted - view here
Reading time: 13 mins
Startup Funding
Estimating
Attentive.ai, a Delaware startup, raised $30.5m in Series B funding. They have developed an AI platform which completes takeoffs, for field services and maintenance teams using aerial imagery as well for GCs, subcontractors and suppliers using construction drawings. More here.
Notes:
This follows their $12m raise in January of this year.
Geotech / Terraforming
Terranova, a Californian startup, raised $7m in Seed funding. They are building autonomous robots that inject wood slurry underground to elevate flood prone areas by up to a foot per day per acre, offering a low cost alternative to seawalls. More here.
Notes:
This is one of the coolest and wildest pieces of technology I’ve seen.
Flooding risk has been increasing due to a combination of factors from climate change and sea level rise to land shortages forcing development in flood prone areas.
At the same time, it’s become more challenging to gain flood insurance coverage and conventional solutions like seawalls can cost a city between $500 million to $900 million.
Terranova solves this by using autonomous robots which dig wells and deliver a wood slurry to gradually raise the surface, offsetting settlement or creating elevation with no surface disturbance.
They cost less, quoting $92 million to lift 240 acres four feet, taking only 2 to 8 weeks for delivery and have listed use cases such as critical infrastructure protection and new development for their product.
Robotics
Partner Robotics, a Chinese startup, raised a Series A funding round (undisclosed). They are building robots for construction including an indoor tile laying robot and a scribing robot which prints layouts. More here.
Notes:
It can be challenging for a Chinese startup to enter Western markets.
A reason why is that the user pain point is often different in China.
For example, from a program management perspective, a key value is ensuring you deliver things on time and maintain progress.
It’s because there is top down pressure to build faster and open projects on time.
This contrasts to other markets where the focus, if there is a delay, is on understanding why this is occurring and then overcoming it.
It means that the solutions are designed differently and Chinese startups often test Hong Kong and Singapore for their initial expansion and to see if their solutions translate to international pain points.
Second Note:
The Chinese ConTech startup sector has a strong depth in robotics.
A reason why is that a major real estate player called Country Garden had a subsidiary called Bright Dream Robotics which developed intelligent construction solutions and robots.
This subsidiary, at its peak, had ~3,000 employees.
Once the property downturn began in China, Country Garden faced financial challenges which impacted the unit, releasing this talent to the startup ecosystem with a number of ex-employees founding robotics companies.
One of the co-founders of Partner Robotics is from Bright Dreams Robotics.
Procurement
Builtop, a Saudi Arabian startup, raised $11m in funding. They are building a procurement platform for contractors to source materials, compare quotes and access trade credit and buy now pay later solutions. More here.
Cronvall, a Finnish startup, raised €3.9m in funding. They operate a procurement marketplace, helping to connect industrial and construction buyers with verified suppliers, aggregating inventories and offering up to date pricing and availability as well as streamline ordering. More here.
Inspections
H3 Zoom, a Singaporean startup, raised $1.8m in the first close of their Series A funding. They are building an AI powered inspection and asset management tool for critical infrastructure completing tasks such as facade inspection and interior inspection using vision-language models, robotics enabled data capture or off-the-shelf 360 cameras. More here.
Bidding
Procurement Sciences, a Washington startup, raised $30m in Series B funding. They help companies find, win and deliver on government contracts, unifying opportunity discovery, proposal automation, compliance management and delivery execution with AEC listed as an industry served. More here.
Training
On3, a Wisconsin startup, raised funding (undisclosed). They are building a Field Knowledge Management System which allows jobsite teams to capture, create and share knowledge through video recording and AI driven learning. More here.
Notes:
On3 aims to capture tribal knowledge around how day to day operations occur.
Teams are able to record raw footage which is sent to On3 and transformed into a professional tutorial and added to the company’s learning library.
Home Services Contractors
Netic, a San Francisco startup, raised $23m in Series B funding. They are building a ‘growth engine’ for HVAC and home services firms which uses AI to help them to book appointments, automatically reach out to customers for maintenance and manage technician schedules. More here.
Notes:
This is the updated amount on the $20m raise announced in June.
Out of Stealth
Robby, a US startup, emerged out of stealth. They are building an AI co-pilot of service teams which uses smart glasses to help technicians diagnose problems, complete repairs, and document everything automatically. View the website here.
Policy and Regulatory Changes
US
OpenAI asked Trump administration to expand Chips Act tax credit to cover data centers
OpenAI sent a letter to the White House asking that the government should consider expanding the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (AMIC) beyond semiconductor fabrication.
They want the AMIC to cover electrical grid components, AI servers, and AI data centers.
It also called for the government to accelerate the permitting and environmental review process for these projects and to create a strategic reserve of raw materials.
Related:
US energy secretary says biggest use of loan office will be for nuclear power plants
The Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office has hundreds of billions of dollars in financing aid, including loan guarantees for projects that struggle to get bank loans.
The Energy Secretary said that electricity demand from AI and data centers will bring in billions of dollars of equity capital.
That financing will be matched “three to one, maybe even up to four to one, with low-cost debt dollars from the Loan Programs Office.
New York State delays All-Electric Buildings Act, which would ban gas hookups in new buildings
The All-Electric Buildings Act was scheduled to begin on January 1, 2026, prohibiting gas line connections in new buildings under seven stories.
State attorneys agreed Wednesday to postpone the policy until a federal appeals court makes a ruling on its legality.
New York regulators approved a water-quality permit for a long-contested pipeline that would bring natural gas to the state from Pennsylvania.
New Jersey also approved permits for the pipeline.
The Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline has been rejected three times in the past decade.
Notes:
Discussion over the pipeline emerged after the Trump Administration halted construction on the Empire Wind offshore wind project.
Construction resumed after discussion between New York and President Trump with the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote on social media platform X that Hochul “would move forward on critical pipeline capacity.”
Wisconsin builders seek delay on new building codes
The construction and commercial real estate industry made their case before a committee of Wisconsin lawmakers.
This was to delay new commercial building codes to Spring 2026 as the state licensing agency rolled out new standards in November.
These building codes are based on the 2021 International Building Code and places more focus on energy savings for owners and building users
The new code will only affect construction for buildings larger than single-family homes.
Ongoing projects and planning projects will have to go back to the drawing board and rewrite their plans.
China
China Brings Out Measures to Spur Private Investment in Big Infrastructure Projects
China’s cabinet has issued a package of policy measures to encourage and safeguard participation by private investors in major infrastructure projects.
They are encouraging private investors to help finance profit-generating projects such as railroads, nuclear and hydro power etc.
It also states that, for certain projects, private investors may hold more than a 10 percent stake.
Notes:
Rail, atomic power, and pipeline projects have long been dominated by state-owned enterprises with limited private investment,
Germany
Germany to re-examine ‘security-relevant’ China trade policies
Germany’s coalition government plans to re-examine its trade policies towards China.
This includes Chinese investment in critical German infrastructure.
Canada
Major Power Transmission Line to Be Fast-Tracked by Carney
Prime Minister Mark Carney will name a major electricity transmission line in British Columbia to his list of nation-building projects eligible to be fast-tracked.
The North Coast Transmission Line, or NCTL would twin an existing transmission line running between the cities of Prince George and Terrace in northern BC.
It would also build new branches key to developing critical mineral mines and natural gas exports.
In Vancouver, A Court Ruling on Indigenous Land Triggers Real Estate Angst
A court ruling granted the Indigenous group title over some land in Richmond, just south of Vancouver, causing unease over private-property rights in Canada.
The Crown granted the land away between 1871 and 1914 but those grants “unjustifiably infringe” the Cowichan’s aboriginal title.
The city, province, and Canadian government are appealing the ruling, which has “potentially significant nationwide implications, particularly relating to private property rights”.
Notes:
The ruling found that existing title held under BC’s property law can’t be used as “conclusive evidence that the registered owner is indefeasibly entitled to that land” against aboriginal title holders.
The ruling came from the Supreme Court of British Columbia and could have implications for real estate development and investment.
Denmark
Denmark’s ambitious new CO₂ standards for construction: What you need to know
In 2023, Denmark integrated climate impact requirements of new buildings into its building regulations.
The first phase of new requirements was introduced into the Danish building regulations which defined a threshold limit value of 12kg CO2e/m2/year for new buildings larger than 1,000m2.
Phase two, which came into force in 2025, updated the framework and lowered the limits, with two more phases coming in 2027 and 2029.
Some changes include:
Lowered CO2e thresholds: reduction of the average CO₂e limit from 12 kg/m²/year to an average of 7.1 kg/m²/year.
Expanded scope of applicability: The requirements apply to almost all new constructions, including those over 150m2.
Typology-based limits: Unlike the previous one-size-fits-all approach, the updated regulations introduce specific CO₂e limits for different building typologies.
Poland
Poland raises permit-free energy storage limit to 30 kWh
Poland’s lower house of parliament has passed amendments to the Building Law.
This removes the requirement for building permits to construct energy storage facilities with capacities of up to 30 kWh.
India
India’s Capital Tightens Anti-Pollution Measures After Protests
India imposed stricter pollution control measures for New Delhi and its neighboring regions following public protests.
The Commission for Air Quality Management ordered a temporary halt to all non-essential construction activity and shut down stone crushers and mining operations.
Older diesel and petrol vehicles have been barred from roads in the National Capital Region.
India Curtails More Solar Power as Grid Grapples With Oversupply
India’s power grid is struggling to absorb a surge in solar power installations.
This is leading to more curtailment, with the rate for solar generation in October rising to about 12%
On some days, about 40% of solar power output was denied access to the national network.
Curtailments measure how much electricity was generated without finding its way to customers.
India has about 44-gigawatts worth of green projects that are struggling to find state utilities to buy their electricity.
The government is considering canceling projects where prospects of an offtake deal looks minimal.
National Infrastructure Projects & Priorities
US
Meta plans $600 billion US spend as AI data centers expand
Meta Platforms said it will invest $600 billion in U.S. infrastructure and jobs over the next three years.
This includes AI data centers.
Meta is building compute because “it’s the right strategy to aggressively front-load capacity so we’re prepared for the most optimistic cases.”
Anthropic to invest $50 billion to build data centers in US
Anthropic said it would set up the facilities with infrastructure provider Fluidstack in Texas and New York.
Anthropic said the project is expected to create about 800 permanent jobs and 2,400 construction jobs in the U.S. as the data centers come online throughout 2026.
Southwest Power Pool to develop 765-kV regional transmission ‘backbone’
The Southwest Power Pool board of directors approved an $8.6 billion slate of 50 transmission projects across its 14-state footprint.
Key to the 2025 Integrated Transmission Plan is development of a 765-kV regional transmission “backbone” that can carry four times the power SPP’s existing 345-kV lines do.
Higher voltage lines were approved by Texas regulators for the first time in April.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Line project scaled back as costs balloon toward $10T
The Line, envisioned as an approximately 106-mile wall of glass running through the desert and the centerpiece of the crown prince’s $500 billion Neom megaproject is being scaled back.
The budget for The Line started at $1.6 trillion in 2021 and an updated internal estimate the following year placed the total cost at around $4.5 trillion.
Estimated costs have now grown to $8.8 trillion.
Neom employees believe that much of The Line might technically still be buildable, but they’re allegedly not convinced anyone is ready to cough up the cash to fund it.
Europe
Germany, Spain Commit $100 Million to Climate Adaptation Program
The Climate Investment Funds, a $13 billion multilateral vehicle that sits inside the World Bank, has raised $100 million in funding from Germany and Spain.
This is for a new program designed to help poor countries withstand the fallout from climate change.
Microsoft plans to invest $10 billion in Portuguese AI data hub
Microsoft plans to invest $10 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure at a data centre in Portugal’s port city of Sines over the next few years.
Portugal has large investment projects lined up for Sines to produce green energy to power energy-intensive data centres.
India
Adani Plans to Build India’s Largest Battery Storage System
The proposed installation will have a power storage capacity of 1,126 megawatts.
When completed by March 2026, it would be India’s top battery storage facility and among the largest single-location systems globally.
The conglomerate aims to scale its storage capacity to 15 Gigawatt-hour (GWh) by March 2027, and to 50 GWh within five years.
UK
UK construction activity falls to lowest since 2020 as civil work plummets, PMI shows
Britain’s construction sector contracted in October at the fastest pace in over five years.
Civil engineering activity declined at the fastest pace since the pandemic.
Survey respondents cited weak demand due to political and economic uncertainty, and delays in new project starts.
News
The AI Cold War That Will Redefine Everything (Wall Street Journal)
Q3 2025 ConTech Market Report (Nymbl Ventures)
AI data centre rush raises alarm over construction supply chain
The 2025-2026 Data Centre Construction Cost Index from Turner & Townsend points to an inflexion point.
The sector is moving from traditional cloud-based, air-cooled data centres to the growing dominance of high-density, liquid-cooled facilities to support AI workloads.
There is a 7%-10% construction cost premium between traditional and AI data centres in the USA.
What Happened When Small-Town America Became Data Center, U.S.A.
The 2025 map of building performance standards across the US
Solar power producer Pine Gate blames Trump’s cuts in bankruptcy
Solar power generator Pine Gate Renewables has filed for bankruptcy.
They are the largest renewables developer to collapse after President Trump’s cuts to solar and wind tax credits.
Will the YIMBY ‘Holy Grail’ Deliver an LA Building Boom?
If I missed anything this week, please reply and let me know! I’ll make sure to include it next week.