Last Week in ConTech - 23 June 2025
Will Skilled Labour Shortages Become a Challenge of the Past?
Deep Insight: Will Skilled Labour Shortages Become a Challenge of the Past?
For years, there have been rising concerns about the availability of skilled labor in construction.
A recent technical note by the National Association of Home Builders estimated the cost of labor shortages at $10.8 billion due to longer construction times.
McKinsey highlights that for some roles, annual hiring is expected to be 20 times higher than the net increase in new jobs underscoring the impact of churn from an aging workforce. This turnover is expected to cost more than $5.3 billion annually in talent acquisition and training.
The challenge is compounded by increasing construction demand from the energy transition with the global renewables industry requiring 1.1m more blue collar workers. In response, interest has grown in robotics, automation, and construction technology.
But we may be turning a corner.
From 2023 to 2024, enrollment in vocational-focused community colleges rose 17.6% in the US, with construction trade enrollment increasing by 23%. In 2025, trade enrollment has grown another 11.7%.
At the same time, the last decade has seen notable growth in key trades across the U.S:
Carpenters grew by 111k
Electricians by 229k
Plumbers by 82k
HVAC mechanics and installers by 162k
Despite a 2025 shortage of 439,000 construction workers, interest in the trades is rising and one surprising driver is social media.
A new generation of blue-collar influencers is reshaping perceptions of the trades.
Take Lexis Czumak-Abreu, a residential and commercial electrician who has over 2.2m followers across platforms. Or Matt Panella, a 27 year old carpenter sharing detailed how-to videos and time lapses of house framing.
Both earn over $200k annual from brand deals with companies like Klein Tools, Carhartt and 3M.
Startups like Forge (US), La Solive (France) and Smalt and Montamo (Germany) are capitalizing on this interest. They run bootcamps to train and deploy new workers directly into trade roles; often on their own projects or with hiring partners.
Solving the labor shortage may hinge less on policy and more on the power of storytelling.
An example is Pfister Faucets which spent $2 million to produce a YouTube documentary series to highlight the lives of plumbers around the country.
In the battle for the next generation of talent, the companies that inspire and showcase real career journeys are the ones that will win.
In this issue there are:
8 Startup Fundings
1 Startup emerged from stealth
15 Policy and Regulatory Changes
5 New National Infrastructure Projects & Priorities
1 New investment fund
1 Acquisition
4 News articles
4 new jobs posted - view here
Reading time: 13 mins
Does the email get cut off by your reading application? You can view the full version online here.
Startup Funding
Project Management
Alago, a German startup, raised Pre-seed funding (undisclosed). They are building an AI powered construction workflow automation platform which uses AI to extract data from operation documents such as meeting minutes, emails, contracts, and invoices to log and route information and tasks between project managers and AI. More here.
Green Materials
Fiber Global, an Indiana startup, raised $20m in Series A funding. They have developed an upcycling process which takes byproducts such as agricultural husks, textile offcuts, and sawmill residues to create building panels and insulation which match or exceed the mechanical properties of conventional gypsum and fiber-cement boards. More here.
Fiberwood, a Finnish startup, received €3.1m in grant funding. They have developed a process to provide wood fiber-based and eco-friendly insulation for the construction industry from wood industry side streams. More here.
Carbon Upcycling, a Calgary startup, raised $26.6m in funding. They have developed a solution which transforms industrial CO2 emissions and low value local materials into high performance supplementary cementitious products. It does so by taking byproducts from industries like iron, steel and mining to permanently store CO2 emissions and create a local supply of low carbon products for blended cements. More here.
Notes:
A major challenge in low-carbon cement adoption is integration into the existing concrete supply chain.
Delivering low-carbon concrete at scale requires a large, localized infrastructure footprint, including concrete batching plants.
For example, Australia’s National Construction Code for footings and slabs states that "Complete discharge of the concrete from the truck should be made within one and a half hours of initial mixing with water unless a suitable retarder has been specified.”
Startups typically cannot fund the infrastructure needed to scale, so they must license their technology to existing concrete producers.
This creates integration challenges, as startups must adapt to the producer’s existing systems rather than rebuild from scratch.
These challenges are compounded by the fact that many global producers have grown through M&A, resulting in regional variation in systems and processes.
Each concrete plant also uses locally sourced feedstocks, meaning integration of new technology requires plant-specific customization.
Startups (depending on how their technology / material integrates) must identify:
Plants located in regions where customers are willing to pay a green premium for low-carbon concrete.
Plants with available capacity and the potential to be retrofitted with new technologies and processes.
Building Materials
HydroBlok, a Utah startup, raised $6m in Series A extension funding. They have developed a construction panel which is waterproof, mold-proof which is lighter and stronger and ideal for showers/baths, stucco, & drywall installations. More here.
Land Development
Blocktype, a UK startup, raised £315k in funding. They are developing a residential planning platform which allows users to analyse sites and identify constraints such as topography, conservation areas and flood zones instantly as well as dropping in pre-designed and policy compliant features such as houses, apartment blocks and roads to test viable layouts and spacing for local regions. More here.
Inspection
Voliro, a Swiss startup, raised $23m in Series A funding (extension). They develop drones to be used for industrial non destructive inspections and maintenance tasks in difficult to reach or hazardous to human areas with traction in the infrastructure (e.g steel bridges, water towers), cement and aggregate industries. More here.
Other
Lumion, a Utah startup, raised $10.7m in Seed funding. They are developing an operating system for trade and technical schools to manage their students and process payments to help them grow more effectively and serve more students. More here.
Related:
Out of Stealth
BuildFactory, an Iowa startup, emerged out of stealth. They are building an offsite construction marketplace which allows companies to upload drawings and be matched with a vetted network of fabricators. View the website here.
Policy and Regulatory Changes
US
State lawmakers go big on bills to advance nuclear power
More than 200 nuclear-related bills were filed in state capitols so far this year.
Dozens have already been signed into law or are awaiting governors’ signatures.
The reason why is twofold:
Increasing power demand
A desire to bring economic investment and jobs to their states.
The latter is as state legislators are courting “hyperscaler” data centers operated by technology giants like Google, Microsoft and Amazon.
They need clean, reliable power which leads to a demand for nuclear power.
Judge blocks Trump plan to tie states' transportation funds to immigration enforcement
A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from forcing 20 Democratic-led states to cooperate with immigration enforcement to receive transportation grant funding.
A Political Battle Is Brewing Over Data Centers
A 10-year moratorium on state-level AI regulation included in President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill is facing opposition.
It is unclear how (or if) the moratorium will affect data center legislation.
A concern is that the megabill’s 10-year block on states regulating artificial intelligence could make it easier for corporations to get zoning variances.
It’s important as there is an increasing amount of local opposition to data centres.
Notes:
The ‘big beautiful bill’ is yet to pass the Senate.
Related:
What new Senate megabill text means for clean energy credits
The Senate Finance Committee’s portion of the Republican megabill was released.
The Senate bill would extend technology-neutral production and investment tax credits for geothermal, hydropower and nuclear to projects that begin construction by 2033.
But the bill would begin phasing out such incentives for wind and solar in 2026.
At the same time, it would nix a House requirement forcing projects to begin construction within 60 days of the law’s enactment.
Trump’s Repeal of Pollution Rules Paves Way for New Dirty Plants
The proposal would eliminate a Biden-era rule requiring power plants to curb their greenhouse-gas emissions.
It would smooth the path for a significant build-out of natural gas generators.
About 19 gigawatts of new gas-fired power, enough to support 14.3 million homes, is planned by 2028.
While the curbs would not have barred the construction of those plants, they would have compelled utilities to capture nearly all of their carbon dioxide emissions.
Texas finalizes $1.8B to build solar, battery, and gas-powered microgrids
The state Legislature passed a proposal to fund backup power for critical facilities like nursing homes and fire stations.
The microgrid program limits individual projects to no larger than 2.5 megawatts.
While they are small, they can be built quickly meeting demand far quicker than big power plants which take five or more years to build.
D.C. is removing bike lane barriers for the first time, calling them ugly
DC is removing a set of protected bike lanes, cycling advocates say.
It comes as there is an increasing national backlash against bike infrastructure.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has frozen all federal grants involving cycling, recently calling bike lanes in congested areas “a problem.”
Cities in Texas and California are also removing bike infrastructure.
Cities let housing permits age like ‘fine wine,’ lawmaker says. A new law seeks to speed approvals
A new Oregon law aims to speed housing construction.
It sets a 120-day deadline for local officials to review final engineering plans, which show where infrastructure will go on a developable site.
There is currently no deadline.
Local officials also cannot impose solely aesthetic design standards, including garage door colors, roof decorations and window trims or shutters, on many types of new housing.
Colorado DOT releases draft active transportation plan
The Colorado Department of Transportation released a draft of its statewide active transportation plan.
The plan builds on the state’s original bicycle and pedestrian plan issued in 2012.
The new plan includes additional mobility options including electric bikes, scooters, skateboards, roller blades and wheelchairs.
Up to a third of Coloradans may not have access to or are unable to drive a personal vehicle.
The plan also aligns with the state’s goal of reducing transportation-related air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.
DeSantis signs off on 12 more Florida laws. Here’s what each one changes
House Bill 683 establishes a variety of new rules regarding construction standards in the state.
Some of the rules are:
Requires the state to adopt standards for installing synthetic turf in residential areas.
Exempts equipment from the Florida Building Code if it’s located at a spaceport that is used for space launch vehicles, payloads or spacecraft
Prohibits local building departments from requiring copies of contracts and related documents in order to receive a building permit.
EU
EU pushes back proposals to curb reliance on Russian nuclear fuel
The Commission is due to propose legal measures this week to end the EU's Russian gas imports by the end of 2027.
The Commission had said it would also propose trade measures targeting enriched uranium, to make imports from Russia less attractive and encourage countries to switch to other suppliers.
Russia supplied 38% of the EU's enriched uranium and 23% of its raw uranium in 2023.
Five EU countries, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary and Slovakia, have Russian-designed reactors set up to run on Russian fuel.
Notes:
As nuclear power grows in popularity, geopolitics will increasingly impact the consortium which builds them.
This is as Russia’s state-owned company Rosatom is the largest exporter of reactor technology and nuclear fuel services.
It operates in several countries using a “build-own-operate” model that creates long-term dependencies.
Concerns about Russia and China by Western countries increasingly favor the Korean and French nuclear industries.
Germany
Germany clears bill to expedite housing construction by cutting red tape
The German government approved a draft law that aims to speed up the construction of housing units.
Municipalities in Germany can streamline the approval process for residential buildings by allowing more leeway on development plans.
Construction will now be automatically approved if the municipality does not vote against it within two months.
£7.9 billion will be committed over ten years to protect homes, small businesses, and vital infrastructure from the growing threat of flooding.
This will fund a variety of mitigation measures from high-performance flood barriers to nature-based solutions like wetland restoration.
India
India Seeks Law Banning Non-Conforming Structures Near Airports
India is drafting a law to allow demolition of buildings near airports that don't meet height regulations to improve aviation safety.
The proposed law would empower India's aviation regulator to examine complaints and order owners to trim trees or reduce building height within 60 days.
Failure to respond would lead to demolition.
250 homes on govt radar for building code violations
In Gurgaon, the department of town and country planning is cracking down on unauthorised constructions and illegal commercial activities in residential colonies.
Officials identified several residential properties being misused for commercial purposes such as real estate offices, guest houses, beauty parlours, dental clinics, yoga centres and salons.
Numerous cases of unauthorised construction were found, including rooms built in stealth parking areas, servant quarters in zoning areas, covered cut-outs and illegal structures erected on rooftops.
Notes:
There appears to be an increasing amount of regulatory action in India on the construction sector to enforce compliance.
The range of commercial uses found in residential areas (e.g. yoga studios and salons) highlights a broader disregard for zoning laws.
As per the article, non-compliant property owners may face sealing orders, fines, or demolition in the coming weeks.
National Infrastructure Projects & Priorities
US
Meta signs geothermal power deal for New Mexico data centers
Meta announced a deal with geothermal energy producer XGS Energy.
The latter will provide Meta carbon-free power to support its New Mexico data center operations.
In exchange, Meta will support XGS’s development of 150 megawatts of next-generation geothermal energy production capacity.
The new plant will result in a $1 billion private sector investment.
Texas Instruments plans $60 billion US investment under Trump push
The $60 billion will be used to build or expand seven chip-making facilities at three sites in Texas and Utah.
TI's announcement includes funds already allocated to facilities that are either under construction or ramping up.
China
China Builds Most Coal-Fired Plants in Decade for Power Security
China gave the green light to almost 100 gigawatts of new coal-fired plants in 2024, and India a further 15 gigawatts.
Investments in coal supply continue to tick upward with another 4% increase expected in 2025.
Both countries are seeking to increase energy security.
UK
UK to Invest £725 Billion in Infrastructure Over Next 10 Years
At least £9 billion a year will be committed to critical maintenance of schools, hospitals, prisons and courts.
The infrastructure strategy also included plans to invest £16 billion in new homes, £590 million for the Lower Thames Crossing project and £1 billion for the maintenance of transport infrastructure.
South Korea
Alibaba Cloud to Start Second Data Center in South Korea by June
The new facility is part of a 380 billion yuan ($52.9 billion) investment in AI and cloud infrastructure.
Alibaba Cloud entered the South Korean market in 2022 with a data center in Seoul.
The move comes as Alibaba faces intensifying competition at home and pivots aggressively to AI.
Kazakhstan
Russia, China to Lead Construction of Two Kazakh Nuclear Plants
Kazakhstan has selected Russia’s Rosatom to lead a consortium for the construction of its first nuclear power plant.
The China National Nuclear Corp. is expected to lead a group to build a second atomic facility.
The Central Asian nation is the world’s top uranium producer.
Kazakhstan hasn’t used nuclear power since 1999 but the country voted to proceed with the construction of a nuclear power plant in an October referendum.
Australia
Amazon to invest $13 billion in Australia's data center infrastructure over five years
This is to expand, operate and maintain its data center infrastructure in Australia, bolstering the nation's artificial intelligence capabilities.
The investment is Amazon's largest global technology commitment in Australia.
The company is also investing in three new solar farms in Victoria and Queensland.
They will commit to buy a combined capacity of more than 170 megawatts across the three farms.
Investment funds
Realyze Ventures, a German VC, completed the first close of their fund ~$50m. They invest in European startups driving climate and process efficiency in construction and real estate. More here.
Acquisitions
Saint Gobain, a global wholesale material supplier, acquired Maturix, a Danish provider to real time monitoring of concrete via sensors during the curing and hardening process to ensure quality and performance. More here.
News
Shell, EDF file to terminate Atlantic Shores 1 off New Jersey
They have filed a petition to cancel the 1,509.6-MW Atlantic Shores 1 offshore wind project in New Jersey.
This comes after US authorities withdrew a critical permit for the approved initiative.
Trump’s Immigration Raids Worsen Construction’s $10.8 Billion Labor Shortage
Immigrants make up 34% of the construction workforce.
AI Impact Series: A focus on the AEC sector
The podcast touches on the impact of the rollout of Microsoft Copilot 365 at Mott MacDonald, a large engineering consultant.
US Homebuilder Sentiment Drops to Lowest Level Since End of 2022
If I missed anything this week, please reply and let me know! I’ll make sure to include it next week.