This year, we launched a call for the most innovative startups to make a difference and shape the industry’s future with their breakthrough business models to Build Something Bigger Together.
Construction Startup Competition 2024 called on startups worldwide to submit solutions that make construction more sustainable, efficient, on time, and disruptive.
The competition’s 8th edition – hosted this year by Cemex Ventures, Caterpillar, Dysruptek by Haskell, Ferrovial, Hilti, VINCI Group’s Leonard, NOVA by Saint-Gobain, Trimble, and Zacua Ventures – saw an impressive response with hundreds of applications from impressive technology startups worldwide. Selecting only 8 winners was definitely a challenge.
Finally, after months of intense evaluation, we’re thrilled to unveil the 8 winning startups!
Table of contents
The Winners
Green Construction – Sustainable:
- MIXTERESTING (Austria): Mixteresting’s software enables its customers to develop CO2-efficient concrete by digitally simulating the mixing process, accelerating the development cycle by up to 10 times. This allows them to achieve 5-7% higher margins through more efficient and innovative concrete mixes and reduce CO2 emissions by up to 20% through performance-based optimization: http://www.mixteresting.com
- revitalyze (Austria): The Austria-based startup provides a solution to reduce waste in the construction industry by matching valuable materials from demolition and dismantling projects with the demand for secondary materials from building material manufacturers. They are faster and more cost-effective than existing solutions in building inventory analysis, as they focus solely on identifying materials that can be repurposed: https://www.revitalyze.io
Enhanced Productivity – Efficient:
- Kraaft (France): Kraaft’s mission is to reconcile field & office teams, which often have difficulty communicating. Their take is to start with what’s already the cornerstone of day-to-day field management: simple chats and to augment those with construction-focused modules so that data gets structured semi-automatically. Their first focus is utility & infrastructure sub-contractors, and we’re starting to expand in the vertical building segment. They have 600+ customers, 15k+ active users in Europe & North America: https://www.kraaft.co
- Sodex Innovations (Austria): Sodex Innovations improves surveying in construction by installing hardware such as laser scanners, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), and cameras directly on the construction machine. This enables the machines to deliver digital twins of construction sites to our cloud solution in real time. This means the current status can be accessed quickly, reducing manual data collection and processing, saving time, and cutting costs. Their solutions increase transparency, improve documentation, and support project management: https://sodex-innovations.com/
- Trunk Tools (United States): The American startup has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) platform to organize mountains of unstructured data, automate workflows, and augment worker productivity. From identifying data discrepancies to tracking schedule misses, their AI agents are augmenting construction professionals’ intelligence and productivity. Their flagship agent, TrunkText, allows field workers to ask questions about their project documents, receiving answers and supporting documentation in seconds: https://www.trunktools.com
Construction Supply Chain – On Time:
- Kaya AI (United States): Kaya’s supply chain intelligence platform reduces supply chain risks & minimizes delays to project execution by enabling data-driven lead times, breaking down communication silos & accelerating the coordination between the project team & suppliers. Their proprietary model learns from project data & incorporates progress updates from trades & suppliers to provide a more realistic view of when materials will arrive onsite, enabling a centralized view of end-to-end supply chain activities: https://usekaya.ai/
Future of Construction – Disruptive:
- Raise Robotics (United States): Raise Robotics is a leading construction robotics company specializing in autonomous high-precision fastening solutions for on-site construction. With a deep understanding of the construction industry’s safety, accuracy, and productivity demands, Raise Robotics develops advanced robotic systems that work seamlessly with existing customer workflows, achieving unparalleled results. Their current focus is on deploying robots with contractors to handle the installation and inspection of facade brackets: https://raiserobotics.ai/
- GScan (Estonia): GScan uses cosmic rays (muons) to look inside critical infrastructure like bridges, tunnels, buildings, and nuclear reactors. This is the only tech capable of seeing more than 40cm into concrete or steel. With 30x higher accuracy than industry standards (and only technology capable of scanning concrete deeper than 50cm, their 3D models help asset owners and operators to significantly cut costs by (a) extending infrastructure lifecycle and (b) reducing renovation budgets w/o increasing the risk level: https://www.gscan.eu/
Pitch Day 2024
But there’s still one last stop in the competition!
These 8 winning startups are headed to the ultimate milestone of the competition: Pitch Day to compete for the chance to become the gold, silver, and bronze trophies and receive cash prizes! This year, Pitch Day 2024 will take place at Trimble’s Dimensions User conference on November 12 in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA).
What is Pitch Day?
Pitch Day is the final stage of Construction Startup Competition, where winning startups are invited to pitch their solutions to a jury made up of executive representatives from the competition host companies – some of the top tier players in the construction industry!
The winning startups have the gold opportunity to pitch their solutions directly to investors and attend Dimensions, one of the industry’s leading conferences, where they can meet with startup peers, innovators, and investors. Check out all the Construction Startup Competition benefits here.
Coming up
Just like the competition’s theme, we need to BUILD SOMETHING BIGGER TOGETHER, so stay tuned for the 2025 collaboration opportunities we’ve got in store:
- January 2024: As we kick off the new year, we’ll be announcing the Top 50 2025 Contech Startups. If you participated in the Construction Startup Competition 2024, your startup could make the list!
- Spring 2024: The next challenge for construction startups is set to be bigger than ever. If you applied this year, we highly recommend reapplying. Many of our past winners also applied in previous competitions and earned spots in the Top 50 Contech Startups.
Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn & X to stay up to date on all Cemex Ventures news!
Press Release
Construction Startup Competition 2024 Names the Eight Startup Winners Revolutionizing the Construction Industry
- The hosts of the competition – venture capital and construction companies Cemex Ventures, Caterpillar, Dysruptek by Haskell, Ferrovial, Hilti, Leonard by VINCI, NOVA by Saint-Gobain, Trimble and Zacua Ventures – have named the eight winning startup solutions advancing innovation in the construction sector.
- The eight startup winners will compete for the gold, silver and bronze medals at Pitch Day, taking place at Trimble Dimensions User Conference in Las Vegas on November 12, 2024.
MADRID, October 22, 2024 – Today the partners of Construction Startup Competition 2024, Cemex Ventures, Caterpillar, Dysruptek by Haskell, Ferrovial, Hilti, Leonard by VINCI, NOVA by Saint-Gobain, Trimble and Zacua Ventures, have announced the most promising startup solutions from this year’s competition with the potential to transform the construction industry.
The annual competition, now in its eighth edition, received a large number of startup applications from over 70 countries. Startup solutions were categorized into four focus areas that correspond to current pain points in the construction value chain: Green Construction (sustainability), Enhanced Productivity (efficiency), Construction Supply Chain (timeliness), and Future of Construction (disruption). The most promising startup solutions from each focus area were named Construction Startup Competition 2024’s champions: GScan [Estonia], Kaya AI [US], KRAAFT [France], MIXTERESTING GmbH [Austria], Raise Robotics [US], revitalyze [Austria], Sodex Innovations GmbH [Austria] and Trunk Tools [US].
The eight aforementioned winners will advance to the competition’s final milestone, Pitch Day 2024, and present their solutions to executive representatives from the competition’s partner companies, industry investors and potential business partners at Trimble Dimensions User Conference on November 12 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The three startups with the best pitches will receive cash prizes, be named the gold, silver and bronze medalists, and continue to be evaluated for potential partnership opportunities with the host companies.
Over the last eight years, Construction Startup Competition has been a launching pad for more than 3,500 startups to network, validate their solutions through pilots and deployment projects, gain industry recognition, and facilitate fundraising with the mission to advance innovation in construction and promote the adoption of startup technologies.
As the construction sector undergoes a technological revolution, the competition hosts are saying to startups, “Let’s build something bigger together!” Contech & Cleantech startups looking to meet with investors, pilot their solutions and make a significant impact in the construction industry can join the competition partners and winners at Trimble Dimensions User Conference.
About Construction Startup Competition
Since its first edition in 2017, startups from more than 80 countries have participated in the biggest challenge aimed at startups in the construction industry, the Construction Startup Competition. Many entrepreneurs have gone on to collaborate with the participating companies after applying to the Competition. Given the global outreach of its partners, the 2024 edition received an increase in the number of startup applications to identify the most innovative solutions around the world, continue growing the Contech ecosystem and begin agile adoption of applicants’ innovative technologies and business models.
About Cemex Ventures
Launched in 2017, Cemex Ventures focuses on helping overcome the main challenges and capitalizing on the opportunity areas in the construction ecosystem through sustainable solutions. Cemex Ventures has developed an open collaborative platform to lead the revolution of the construction industry, engaging startups, entrepreneurs, universities, and other stakeholders to tackle the challenges in the construction environment and shape the industry’s future. For more information on Cemex Ventures, please visit: www.cemexventures.com
About Caterpillar
With 2023 sales and revenues of $67.1 billion, Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. For nearly 100 years, we’ve been helping customers build a better, more sustainable world and are committed and contributing to a reduced-carbon future. Our innovative products and services, backed by our global dealer network, provide exceptional value that helps customers succeed. Caterpillar does business on every continent, principally operating through three primary segments – Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation – and providing financing and related services through our Financial Products segment. Visit us at caterpillar.com or join the conversation on our social media channels at https://www.caterpillar.com/en/news/social-media.html
About Dysruptek
Formed in 2018, Dysruptek is the venture investment arm of The Haskell Company. Dysruptek seeks to invest in disruptive Architecture, Engineering and Construction technologies reshaping the built world. Dysruptek acts as an agent of change and partner to innovators driving meaningful impact across the industry. Invest. Invent. Innovate. For more information, please visit: www.dysruptek.com
About Ferrovial
Ferrovial is one of the world’s leading infrastructure companies. The Company operates in more than 15 countries and has a workforce of over 24,000 worldwide. Ferrovial is triple listed on Euronext Amsterdam, the Spanish Stock Exchanges and Nasdaq and is a member of Spain’s blue-chip IBEX 35 index. It is part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and FTSE4Good, and all its operations are conducted in compliance with the principles of the UN Global Compact, which the Company adopted in 2002. For more information on Ferrovial, please visit: www.ferrovial.com
About the Hilti Group
The Hilti Group supplies the worldwide construction and energy industries with technologically leading products, systems, software and services. With about 34,000 team members in over 120 countries the company stands for direct customer relationships, quality and innovation. Hilti generated annual sales of more than CHF 6.5 billion in 2023 and invests approximately 7 percent of sales in research and development each year. The company is privately owned by the Martin Hilti Family Trust, which ensures its long-term continuity. The Hilti Group’s purpose is making construction better, based on a passionate and inclusive global team and a caring and performance-oriented culture. With more than 280,000 daily interactions with customers, Hilti knows that the most innovative ideas are born on the jobsite. To learn more about Hilti, please visit: www.hilti.group
About Leonard by VINCI
Leonard is the innovation and foresight platform set up by VINCI, a global player in concessions, energy and construction businesses, employing more than 280,000 people in more than 120 countries. Leonard was created to imagine the future of the Group’s business lines and is tasked with watching emerging trends in VINCI’s areas of expertise and markets, identifying new growth opportunities, and setting up incubation and acceleration programs for Group employees as well as start-ups. Each year, Leonard supports the acceleration and development of over 40 of the best innovative projects in construction, mobility, energy and real estate. To house these programs and start conversations with all the people blazing new trails in VINCI’s business lines, Leonard opened Leonard: Paris, a 4,500 square meters lab in Paris. Since 2020, Leonard has been expanding operations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Latin America. To find out more about Leonard: https://leonard.vinci.com/en/
About NOVA by Saint-Gobain
NOVA by Saint-Gobain, the external venture arm of Saint-Gobain, identifies forward-thinking startups around the world whose philosophies align with Saint-Gobain’s focus on sustainability. It helps those startups nurture their ideas and grow their companies to scale through partnerships and investment. With a presence in Asia, Europe and North America, NOVA by Saint-Gobain connects the global startup community with the power, resources, and experience of Saint-Gobain to address the needs of today and challenges of tomorrow. Learn more by visiting https://nova-saint-gobain.com and www.saint-gobain.com
About Trimble Ventures
Launched in 2021, Trimble Ventures is a corporate venture capital fund focused on investing in early and growth-stage companies that align with Trimble’s mission of transforming work in the agriculture, construction, geospatial and transportation industries. The fund deploys strategic capital to accelerate the growth of innovative companies and partners that complement Trimble’s products, technology platforms and support its customer’s work. Trimble Ventures targets investing in companies with technologies and solutions related to hardware and software applications; artificial intelligence; augmented, virtual and mixed reality; autonomy and robotics; blockchain; the Internet of Things (IoT) and analytics; and sustainability. For more information on Trimble Ventures, visit: ventures.trimble.com
About Trimble
Trimble is transforming the ways people move, build and live. Core technologies in positioning, modeling and data analytics connect the digital and physical worlds to improve our customers’ productivity, quality, safety, transparency, and sustainability. For more information about Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB), visit: www.trimble.com
About Zacua Ventures
Zacua Ventures is a dynamic, early-stage venture capital fund dedicated to tackling the most pressing challenges in Sustainability, Productivity, and Urbanization within the built environment, on a global scale. With our strategic footprint in North America, Europe, Latam and Asia, Zacua Ventures actively supports the most visionary and forward-thinking entrepreneurs. Our mission is to not only fortify their value propositions but also facilitate the global expansion of their ventures, leveraging extensive corporate networks. Zacua has a robust backing from industry-leading corporations worldwide, across the entire value chain of the industry, establishing a distinctive value proposition for our portfolio startups by fostering direct relationships with leading building material manufacturers, contractors, engineering companies, developers, and software companies. Zacua is led by partners with over three decades of combined industry expertise, who, for the past decade, have been at the forefront of investing in cutting-edge construction technology. Discover how Zacua Ventures is shaping the future of the built environment by empowering visionary entrepreneurs at www.zacuaventures.com