Last Week in ConTech - 23 December 2024
India to automate highway construction + the rise of the AI infrastructure asset class
Last Week in ConTech is a summary of the most important construction startup funding, news, policy changes and national project investments in the last 7 days. The goal is to provide decision makers with information on technology solutions and macro-economic trends in construction to help drive innovation in the industry.
In this issue there are:
9 Startup Fundings
12 Policy and Regulatory Changes
8 New National Infrastructure Projects & Priorities
1 New investment fund
1 Acquisition
9 News articles
33 new jobs posted - view here
Reading time: 13 mins
Note: There will be no Last Week in ConTech next week (30th December) and the newsletter will return on 6 January.
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Startup Funding
Construction Management
Buildpeer, a Mexican startup, raised $2.5m in Seed funding with Brick & Mortar Ventures investing. They have developed a construction management platform which helps users to document, organize and visualize project information through more than 10 interconnected modules (e.g project schedule, inspections etc). More here.
Sitemate, an Australian startup, raised $27.5m in Series A funding. They build no code tools to help construction companies streamline paperwork and process including Dashpivot which automates HSEQ processes, project delivery records and project data flows and Flowsite which streamlines the process of integrating (connecting APIs) to external applications allowing you to easily push and pull data between platforms. More here.
[View open jobs - 2 roles in Marketing, 1 role in Operations, 5 roles in Software]
Notes:
When I was finishing uni, I worked as a No-Code Developer, building software applications.
The term "No-Code" is often misleading, so we frequently rebranded it as "Low-Code Developer" to simplify sales cycles. Clients often ask, “If it’s no code, why can’t we build it ourselves?”
Low Code Development represents the next evolution of software engineering, where developers use graphical interfaces instead of writing code to build applications.
C++ is closer to the assembly language, offering detailed control, while Python is more accessible and almost reads like plain English.
Similarly, Low-Code abstracts away traditional coding complexities, enabling development that is 5-10x faster and easier to learn, though it comes with trade-offs in customization and breadth of functionality.
This increased abstraction dramatically shortens learning curves. While software bootcamps typically take 8-12 months, No-Code bootcamps can prepare developers to deliver for clients in just 6 weeks.
It translates to lower costs (we charged 5x cheaper than traditional agencies) making Low-Code an appealing choice for mid market firms with smaller budgets.
The lower cost and faster development time also enable internal upskilling via microlearning courses. Teams can become self-sufficient, solving their challenges without relying on costly external developers or agencies.
For example, automating a tedious workflow often involves mapping the process, explaining it to the operations team, and waiting for them to assess its impact against high development costs—costs that often prevent automation, especially in mid-market businesses.
Imagine if every team had a trained No-Code expert, much like how teams often rely on an ‘Excel guru.’ These experts could quickly implement solutions without requiring external / centralized resources.
Sitemate’s platform appears to enable this. They develop No-Code tools tailored for the built world and construction workflows, along with a Zapier-like interface for API integrations.
They join a growing number of tools in this space, such as Viktor.ai, which simplifies app development with Python.
Related:
Building Decarbonization
eLstar Dynamics, a Dutch startup, raised €10m in funding. They developed a smart glass solution for applications such as architecture. More here.
Notes:
The global architectural glass market is valued at ~USD 84.15 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 127.37 billion by 2028 (architectural glass is glass that is used as a building material).
Heat gain and heat loss through windows is responsible for 25-30% of residential heating and cooling energy use.
Customer Service
SmartAC.com, a Houston startup, raised $8 million in extension funding. They have developed a platform for contractors to monitor and manage their HVAC and plumbing maintenance memberships with customers. It uses wireless sensors to monitor cooling and heating performance to ensure the health of HVAC and plumbing systems providing proactive alerts for fixes and allowing customers to accrue loyalty points / discounts. More here.
[View open jobs - 2 roles in Software, 1 role in Customer Success, 1 role in Operations]
Notes:
SmartAC has developed a novel GTM for a hardware startup.
They have developed a hardware sensor which monitors HVAC system performance, identifying issues like water leaks or efficiency drops before they become critical.
The challenge with hardware is adoption:
You need to convince the contractor to offer and install the hardware product.
You need to convince homeowners the value of a monthly subscription to monitor the system.
To overcome this, SmartAC has developed a customer management platform.
For contractors it allows them to monitor systems remotely and identify HVAC issues early allowing them to proactively reach out for maintenance (and more work).
For homeowners the platform provides proactive alerts alongside loyalty points and discounts, increasing perceived value and engagement.
Note: I am assuming SmartAC first built the hardware sensor and then the software platform.
Drones
Skyvisor, a Parisian startup, raised €1.2m in funding. They have developed drone based inspection and asset management software for wind and solar farm projects offering features such as digital twins, AI powered defect detection and solar farm construction progress monitoring. More here.
[View open jobs - 1 role in Product, 1 role in Sales]
Digital Twins
Ekore, an Italian startup, raised €1.3m in Seed funding. They have developed a digital twin platform for buildings which ingests BIM models, 2D plants, documents and IoT sensor data to optimize consumption, reduce emissions and provide maintenance management. More here.
Progress Monitoring
Raptor Maps, a Boston startup, raised $35m in Series C funding. They are building an integrated operating system for the solar industry providing a solar management platform to manage sites including automating solar construction progress monitoring via drones and digital twins. More here.
[View open jobs - 1 role in Customer Success, 1 role in Operations, 2 roles in Software, 1 role in Other]
Climate Risk
Stand, a San Francisco startup, raised $30m in funding. They have provided tailored property insurance for climate for those impacted by climate driven disasters by using physics and AI modelling to mitigate risks. More here.
[View open jobs - 4 roles in Software]
Notes:
In the US, the increase in extreme weather events are making it difficult to insure homes.
This challenge has led to large insurers such as State Farm and Allstate refusing to provide new policies in fire and flood prone areas.
To overcome this, Stand is using technology to create a physical simulation of each home and identifying the potential causes of loss.
They use this analysis to provide tailored risk mitigation plans for properties.
These plans prioritize improvements such as replacing mulch with gravel in a critical area to to reduce risk and premiums.
These solution, if scalable, could have value in two ways:
State DOTs / municipalities are investing in climate adaptation for their infrastructure. Could these models be applied to infrastructure such as roadways or community areas?
Stand works with homeowners to apply risk mitigation plans. The homeowners may need to hire contractors to deliver the works. Does Stand have a partner network of preferred contractors?
Home Decarbonization
1KOMMA5°, a German startup, raised €150m in funding. They are a home electrification startup operating a marketplace for homeowners to buy and install carbon-neutral energy systems like solar panels and heat pumps, as well as providing the software to optimize consumption and bring down energy bills. More here.
Notes:
1KOMMA5° grew by acquiring smaller electrical contractors which employ electricians and installers to sell and install their own products.
The reason why is that the critical bottleneck in building decarbonization is the availability of skilled workers with Germany facing a shortage of 300,000 workers by 2030.
This shortage has led to a rise in funding for startups such as La Solive (France), Smalt and Montamo (Germany) which use a training bootcamp model to train clean energy installers to either help external companies (like 1KOMMA5°) source workers or to hire-train-deploy for their own book of work.
Policy and Regulatory Changes
White House Eyes Federal Land to House Massive AI Data Centers
President Joe Biden’s administration is weighing whether to make federal land available to help US tech giants build data centers to drive development of artificial intelligence.
The plan is focused on how to identify a small number of federal sites that could house data centers in ways that would speed construction and position them near clean energy.
Road ministry to automate highway construction (India)
India's Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will pilot Automated & Intelligent Machine aided Construction (AIMC) on select expressways.
This includes GPS aided motor grader, intelligent compactor and stringless paver, on pilot basis on some of its existing expressways to improve quality and enhance efficiency.
This follows successful testing on the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway.
Minnesota governor signs new law to reform state's energy permitting process
The legislation aims to modernize the energy permitting system without compromising environmental or safety standards.
It is expected to cut red tape for businesses initiating clean energy projects, potentially shortening the construction timeline by 18 months or more.
This move is part of Minnesota's broader strategy to achieve 100% clean energy by 2040.
Wind, solar, and energy storage projects in Minnesota have received $13 billion in capital investments as of early 2024.
Joe Biden to hit Chinese cleantech imports with more tariffs
The Biden administration is to announce a doubling to 50 per cent of the tariff on Chinese solar wafers and polysilicon, and hit tungsten products with a 25 per cent levy.
This move is to protect US manufacturing from China's dominant cleantech industry.
Notes:
This decision caps 4 years in which Biden has provided billions of dollars in cleantech and semiconductor manufacturing subsidies with increasing tariffs on imports from China.
This has spurred manufacturing facility construction.
Trump has stated he will impose tariffs of up to 60 per cent on Chinese goods.
Coming soon to construction zones: cameras
Michigan has signed legislation allowing speed enforcement cameras to be placed in road construction zones.
Michigan becomes the 18th state to allow cameras in construction zones.
In Maryland, the use of speed cameras in construction zones saw an 85% reduction in the number of speeders in the first 10 years.
The Highway Construction Training Program fills critical shortages in highway construction, maintenance, and operations jobs needed to build and maintain the nation’s roads and bridges.
The grants fund activities to train and employ nearly 1,100 jobs across the country.
These new programs include training for heavy duty equipment operators, scholarships for pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs, and programs to obtain a commercial driver’s license.
DOE Offers Six Companies Contracts To Produce Domestic Uranium Fuel For Nuclear Plants
The DOE said developing new domestic production capacity for LEU will ensure an adequate fuel supply is available from trusted sources (reducing dependence on Russia which provides ~25% of enriched uranium).
All contracts will last for up to 10 years and each awardee will receive a minimum contract of $2m.
Notes:
Data centre’s have created stable, high demand for electricity which nuclear is well suited to meet due to its ability to generate large amounts of power continuously (unlike some weather dependent renewables).
This has led to increasing policy interest in developing nuclear plants and ensuring energy independence.
A NEITC designation allows the government to speed up grid expansion projects in these regions and provide federal funding.
The three areas are:
The Lake Erie-Canada Corridor – includes parts of Lake Erie and Pennsylvania
The Southwestern Grid Connector Corridor – includes parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and western Oklahoma
The Tribal Energy Access Corridor – includes five Tribal Reservations, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska.
‘Unfettered’ Gas Exports Would Harm U.S. Economy, Energy Secretary Warns
President Biden halted new LNG export licenses in January waiting for a DOE report.
This stopped the construction of over a dozen new facilities including what would be the largest terminal ever built in the US.
An accompanying letter for the report written by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was leaked stating:
Continued U.S. LNG exports at recent levels would have negative impacts on both the economy and the environment.
“Unfettered exports” would drive up wholesale domestic gas prices by 30%.
Increasing exports could generate 1.5 gigatons of direct greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Trump has promised to resume export terminal approvals.
The loan supports construction of the new Bull Run Treatment Projects to meet federal and state safe drinking water standards.
The new filtration facility and related pipelines will filter water from Portland’s Bull Run supply before it goes to customers to remove a pathogen called Cryptosporidium.
This second loan brings Portland’s total WIFIA loans to over $1 billion for the Bull Run Treatment Program.
Notes:
Water infrastructure appears to be a growing construction vertical.
NERC adopts 2 new standards to boost extreme weather reliability
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation adopted standard modifications for extreme weather reliability.
The new standards are:
TPL-008-1, focused on improving how planning coordinators and transmission planners prepare for the potential impacts of extreme heat and extreme cold temperature events; and,
BAL-007-1, requiring balancing authorities to perform energy reliability assessments in order to plan for potential energy emergencies in the near-term.
Climate resilience top of mind for Denver as it plans to revamp landscaping rules
The city and county of Denver plans to revamp its landscaping requirements for new development and some redevelopment projects in an effort to boost climate resilience due to prolonged drought.
National Infrastructure Projects & Priorities
US
GE Vernova to Power City-Sized Data Centers With Gas as AI Demand Soars
Big Tech is reserving turbines — the engines at the heart of gas-fired power plants — for their planned 5-gigawatt data center campuses.
In the last 30 days alone, GE Vernova has signed 9 gigawatts of reservations for gas turbines (One gigawatt can power approximately 750,000 to 1 million homes).
The company expects to book 20 gigawatts of global gas orders in each of the next four years and the US will account for more than half of that.
Notes:
Annualized CapEx for Big Tech increased from $138B to $229B year-over-year.
This incremental $91B in run-rate spending is a good proxy for new AI data center construction.
The second order effects are increased spending on energy and transmission infrastructure.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) announced a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $15 billion to Pacific Gas & Electric Company Project Polaris.
This is the largest loan in the history of the LPO, and the office plans to finalize it before the end of President Biden’s term.
Big Tech / Data Centres
Oklo inks 12-GW advanced reactor supply agreement with data center developer Switch
Oklo, a small modular reactor developer, could deploy 12 GW of new reactor capacity over the next 20 years through a master power agreement with data center developer Switch.
The nonbinding agreement “establishes a framework for collaboration, with the expectation that individual binding agreements will be finalized as project milestones are reached.
The initial deployments of Oklo’s 50-MWe Aurora powerhouse reactor could begin as early as 2029.
Japan
New Energy Policy Will Set Nuclear Share Target Of 20% By 2040
The planned policy will increase nuclear share in 2040 to 20% from 8.5% today.
The share of renewable energy such as solar and wind will rise to 40 or 50% under the target.
The ministry has said it classifies both nuclear and renewable energies as decarbonising power sources and plans to accelerate their adoption by developing “supportive investment policies.”
Among the 33 operable nuclear reactors in Japan, 14 have now resumed operations after meeting post-Fukushima safety standards.
Vietnam
Vietnam resumes Ninh Thuận nuclear project
Vietnam’s National Assembly has approved the continuation of the Ninh Thuận Nuclear Power Project for 2024.
In 2016, Vietnam’s legislature approved a government resolution to cancel plans to build two nuclear power plants after cost estimates doubled.
Denmark
Denmark issues construction permit for 240 MW offshore wind farm
The wind farm is expected to start operating in 2029.
The project is located in the Bay of Jammerland, on the western side of the island of Zealand.
It is expected to produce power equaling the electricity consumption of around 240,000 European households per year.
Germany
Germany Scraps €350 Million in Subsidies for Hydrogen Projects
The funding had been available through a European Hydrogen Bank program.
The European Commission and Germany failed to agree on terms, meaning the money will now go to other green projects or flow back into the federal budget.
The EU insisted on a price ceiling of €1.44 per kilogram. Many companies deemed that too low, given that Germany’s high power prices make output costly.
Germany aims to produce 10 gigawatts of hydrogen by the end of the decade.
Poland
New Schedule Sees Three-Year Delay For First Nuclear Power Plant
Poland’s first commercial nuclear power plant is scheduled for commercial operation in 2036 with first concrete in 2028.
The revised timeframe means a three-year delay to previous government plans for the plant to be operational in 2033.
Investment funds
Trucks Venture Capital, a San Francisco firm, raised $70m for their third fund. They invest in startups in the transportation sector (including construction equipment automation and decarbonization). More here.
Notes:
If you want to stay up to date with the Future of Transportation, I’d recommend checking out their newsletter (this newsletter is modelled on it).
Acquisitions
Buildforce, a Houston company which is building a career lifecycle platform for the trades connecting skilled electricians to subcontractors, acquired Ladder, an Atlanta startup developing an automated construction recruitment platform where workers create profiles, validate skills and apply for opportunities. More here.
News
The rise of the AI infrastructure asset class
The top construction tech stories of 2024 (Construction Dive)
14 Best Construction Management Tools in 2025 (The Influential Project Manager)
Trump tariffs could disrupt construction projects (Construction Dive)
Was 2024 a breakout year for next-generation geothermal energy?
How off-grid solar microgrids can power the AI race
This report makes a financial and climate case for solar microgrids — paired with storage and generators — to meet hyperscalers' AI-driven power needs.
92% of large NYC buildings meet 2024 carbon emission limits
Site energy use in buildings over 25,000 square feet dropped for the fifth year in a row.
43% of buildings are set to meet Local Law 97’s stricter 2030 targets.
U.S tech giants are building dozens of data centers in Chile. Locals are fighting back
Multiple groups are working to keep Amazon, Google, and Microsoft from doubling the number of centers in the country, fearing environmental devastation.
The World’s First Commercial Fusion Plant Will Be in Virginia
If I missed anything this week, please reply and let me know! I’ll make sure to include it next week.