Last Week in ConTech - 5 February 2024
Will ConTech startups become the contractors of the future?
In this issue there are:
20 Startup Fundings
8 Policy and Regulatory Changes
3 New investment funds
4 Acquisitions
12 News articles
Reading time: 10mins
Note: This issue may appear truncated in your inbox due to the length, click here to view online.
Startup Funding
Water
CleanEdge Resources, a Singaporean startup, raised $20m in funding. They design technologies for wastewater treatment and waste-to-energy applications in Asia using a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model receiving payment based on units of water treated or resources produced. More here.
Indra Systems, an Indian startup, raised $4m. They make economical, compact & smart water treatment systems for recycling domestic & industrial wastewater for non-potable (non-drinking) reuse applications. More here.
Transport
CitySwift, an Irish startup, raised €7m in funding. They have developed a platform to optimize public transport predicting journey times and passenger demand to optimize routing for transportation authorities and operators. More here.
[Hiring - 2 roles in Software, 1 role in Other]
Optym, a Texas startup, raised investment (undisclosed). They provide optimisation solutions for the transportation industry including truck load assignment, linehaul planning, scheduling and rail operations optimization. More here.
[Hiring - 6 roles in Software, 4 roles in Other]
Zum, a Californian startup, raised $140m in Series E funding. They provide transportation solutions for students providing a cloud based platform for schools, parents and drivers. More here.
[Hiring - 4 roles in Software, 4 role in Finance, 2 roles in Support, 1 roles in Design, 25 roles in Operations, 1 role in Design, 2 roles in Other]
Inspections
Roofer.com, a Texas startup, raised $7.5m in seed funding. They modernize roofing inspections using drones to capture high resolution photographs and computer vision to determine damage, service life remaining and the extent of repairs. More here.
Note:
Roofer.com has acquired Bearded Brothers Roofing & Restoration, one of the largest roofing companies in Texas.
On Linkedin I wrote a post hypothesizing that ConTech startups could become the contractors of the future.
The thesis is that due to resistance to technology adoption and difficulty embedding solutions in existing construction workflows, ConTech startups will begin to self-perform using their own solutions to deliver at lower cost (either for the owner or as a tech enabled subcontractor).
This may prove to be a more effective way to capture value from the solutions built vs selling to the industry.
Building Materials
Furno, a Californian startup, raised funding (undisclosed). They are a zero emission cement producer which builds small, modular and more energy efficient cement plants. More here.
Note:
A key chokepoint for the adoption of sustainable concrete such as low carbon concrete is distribution.
To produce concrete for sites, a batching plant is likely required (which is expensive to build).
Concrete usually must be poured within a certain time frame from batching ie. 90 mins requiring local batching plants.
Furno’s solution is particularly interesting as it addresses this issue by offering modular plants offering a possible alternative Go-To-Market strategy to partnership with existing producers (the current ecosystem is mostly dominated by a small number of major players).
Restoration Forest Products Group, an Arizona startup, raised $95m in funding. They produce engineered wood products which can be sold as building materials. More here.
[Hiring - 8 roles in Other]
Note:
Due to climate change and rising wildfires, the US Forest Service has implemented the Four Forest Restoration Initiative.
This involves mitigating the risk of wildfires by thinning 2.4 million acres of forest.
This process produces a lower quality lumber. RFOR use an innovative technique to create an engineered wood product which can be stronger and last longer than traditional building materials using this material.
This has allowed them to win restoration contracts with the US Forest Service.
Tau Group, an Italian startup, raised €11m in Series B extension funding. They develop sustainable coatings for copper, aluminum, and steel wiring. More here.
Note:
The wiring developed by Tau Group can be used for electric chargers or renewable applications such as wind turbines.
They enable smaller, greener, longer-lasting and more powerful motors, transformers and generators. Finding alternative and greener fuel sources is a key component of creating a ‘green’ construction site.
Weather
Meteomatics, a Swiss startup, raised funding (undisclosed). They provide weather intelligence using drones to gather data from the ground to ~20,000 feet in altitude allowing them to provide business accuracy for hyperlocal weather impacts. More here.
[Hiring - 4 roles in Software, 7 roles in Other]
Note:
This solution is incredibly useful for days where concrete pours are planned. Weather conditions can have a significant impact/disruption to the process.
I have been on sites where concrete pours have started and unexpected heavy rain occurs halfway through the pour. As it falls outside of the specification conditions, the concrete has had to be demolished and repoured resulting in delayed program and cost.
Mapping
Mobile GIS Services, a UK startup, raised £600k in funding. They provide geospatial software for utility companies helping operators identify potential risks such as construction work occurring close to underground cables or power lines. More here.
Community engagement
MySite, an Australian startup, has received investment (undisclosed). They provide software which allows project stakeholders to engage with the community throughout a project’s design and planning phase and the approvals and construction phase to receive feedback and perspectives. More here.
Visualization & 3D Scanning
VoxelSensors, a Belgian startup, raised €3m in extended seed funding. They are developing a 3D scanning technology to generate accurate perception data for Mobile, XR, and industrial applications. More here.
[Hiring - 3 roles in Other]
Bright Spaces, a London startup, raised a €2M bridge round. They translate 2D plans into 3D tours helping owners, architects and developers gain alignment on the design of office spaces. More here.
Decarbonization
Budderfly, a Connecticut startup, raised $400m in funding. They provide a no money down energy retrofitting business for small and midsize businesses and earn revenue by capturing energy costs savings up to ~30% of the original bill with any additional savings split with the customer. More here.
Clevergy, a Spanish startup, raised €1.5m in seed funding. They have developed a centralized management platform to connect homes with retailer services and smart devices to optimize energy usage. More here.
Electrification
Monta, a Danish startup, raised $87m in Series B funding. They are building a vertically integrated EV charging platform to serve hardware manufacturers, operators, businesses and EV drivers. More here.
[Hiring - 13 roles in Software, 15 roles in Sales, 1 role in Finance, 3 roles in Support, 2 roles in Design, 2 roles in HR, 1 role in Other]
Real Estate
Audience Town, a New York startup, raised funding (undisclosed). They provide a consumer intelligence platform providing predictive insights and moving data. More here.
[Hiring - 1 role in Sales, 1 role in Design]
Other
Figure AI, a Californian startup, raised $500m in funding. They are building a humanoid robot designed to perform dangerous jobs which are unsuitable for humans. More here.
GovDash, a San Francisco startup, raised $10.3m in funding (SEC filing). They help government contractors to find contracts and write proposals to win more work.
Regulatory and Policy changes
India's ambitious plan to build 7,000 miles of new roads in just one year
Government expenditure on road construction is expected to rise to ~ £28b which is around 9.4x on the 2014 spending level.
Construction is the fastest growing sector of India’s economy.
FHWA offers $729m for storm damaged infrastructure
The Federal Highway Administration will use the funds to help rebuild roads and bridges after natural disasters.
This program is part of a wider effort to respond to climate change.
The funding will support resiliency improvements to prevent further damages from extreme weather.
New York City Set to Launch ‘Department of Sustainable Delivery’
The city agency is to regulate e-bikes, mopeds and motorbikes which are relied on for delivery services.
The new entity will support companies which may be interested in converting truck fleets to cargo bikes and gather data from on demand app companies to determine trip length and demand for infrastructure planning (ie. new bike lanes).
25 SMR license applications expected by 2029
The Nuclear regulatory Commission expects 25 licensing applications for small modular/advanced reactors (~200mw in size) in the next 5 years.
Note:
Nuclear energy is having a comeback.
Last issue we broke down the UK’s nuclear energy plans.
Napa County jurisdictions preparing to adopt code encouraging all-electric construction
A draft building code includes standards to disincentivize the use of natural gas in residential construction.
Other types of construction would require to be ‘electric ready’ ie. have infrastructure prepared to support a future conversion to all-electric.
Related:
All electric building codes are being drafted and adopted by municipalities however they are facing increasing opposition in the courts. Read the breakdown in the last issue for more.
Illinois Enacts Transportation Benefits Program Act
Employers with 50 or more employees in covered locations now must provide covered employees with a ‘pre-tax commuter benefit’.
This allows them to use pre-tax dollars to buy public transit passes through payroll deductions (up to $315 per month).
Related:
NJ passes law to protect residential buildings, inspired by deadly collapse in Florida
New Jersey has passed a bill concerning structural integrity regulations for certain residential buildings (residential condominiums and cooperative housing buildings).
The bill places additional procedures and regulations for inspection, evaluation and maintenance of the structural integrity of residential housing structures.
Buildings constructed after signing of the legislation will need to have their 1st inspection within 15 years.
Buildings 15 years or older will need to have inspection within 2 years.
Buildings which experience an event which may lead to structural damage, must have an inspection within 60 days.
The bill also requires building associations to conduct a study to determine the amount of reserve funds required in the case of major repairs or replacement of common building elements.
The FAA will provide funding to modernize airport infrastructure and improve runway safety.
New Funds
I Squared Capital, a global infrastructure investor, raised $1.2b for a climate focused infrastructure fund. More here.
KKR, a global investment manager, has raised a $6.4b fund focused on infrastructure and energy related investments in the Asia-Pacific region. More here.
Generate Capital, an investment firm, raised $1.5b to invest in low carbon infrastructure. More here.
Acquisitions
Miovision, a Canadian startup which provides intelligent transport solutions, has acquired CJ Hensch & Associates, a data collection specialist. More here.
Holcim, the world’s largest cement maker, is planning on spinning off its $30b North American business. More here.
KKR and Taeyoung Group, a South Korean construction company, are planning to sell Ecorbit, a water treatment firm (~$2b). More here.
Johnson Controls International, a building products company, is exploring a sale of its HVAC assets (~$5b). More here.
News
Climate change is causing a pothole plague. Are robots and self-healing pavement the solution? (BBC)
Shifting the Construction Paradigm: The Rise of Technology in Building the Future (Linkedin Article by Hammad Chaudhry)
Formwork Labs, a ConTech accelerator has announced its Spring 2024 cohort. More here.
Contech funding plummets in 2023, despite more deals (Construction Dive)
Kodiak, an autonomous trucking company and Ryder, a transportation and logistics company have launched AV truckport in Houston. Their aim is establishing a network of hubs of autonomous trucks. More here.
Related:
A thesis I’m building is that the future of infrastructure will be built by startups, not governments. This is as the bottleneck for transportation innovation is not technology but infrastructure.
Blackstone Is Building a $25 Billion Empire of Power-Hungry Data Centers (Bloomberg)
Data Centers are a massive opportunity for construction companies.
For Turner Construction, data centers are a $1.5b a year business unit.
With the rise in demand for AI related computational power, the demand for data centers is expected to grow.
7 key transportation industry trends (Exploding Topics)
The Sophisticating Climate Capital Stack
H2 Green Steel secured €4.5b to build the world’s first large-scale green steel plant.
Their financial stack serves as a blueprint for financing unproved infrastructure. It includes:
Debt: H2 received $4.2bn from 20 lenders.
Equity: Existing shareholders and new investors invested $327m into H2.
Grants: H2 received $272m from the European Commission’s Innovation Fund.
Europe's startups pave the way for a low-carbon, low-waste future for concrete (Tech EU)
The Case For and Against California Forever (
, paywall)“California Forever is the name of a company…which secretly acquired 60,000 acres of land in Solano County, Calif., between San Francisco and Sacramento. The company…plans to build a new city there for up to 400,000 people on about 18,000 acres.”
5 ways construction tech founders can win in 2024 (TechCrunch)
NASA tests autonomous construction robots
If I missed anything this week, please reply and let me know! I’ll make sure to include it next week.