Construction is a huge industry, expected to be worth $10.3 trillion in 2020. Traditionally a slow moving, manual sector, construction is finally starting to digitise. It’s embracing transformative technologies such as data, buiding information modelling (BIM), smart materials, digital twins, and collaboration platforms and apps in order to make construction more affordable, efficient, and sustainable for the inevitable infrastructure challenges that will arise as cities grow.
Here are 10 European construction tech startups to watch out for in 2019:
Habx – Buying your future home is one of the most important decisions of our lives and Hbx wants the customer to be the heart of that purchase. Created in 2016, this Paris-based startup offers a digital platform that allows future homeowners to shape their future housing according to their needs, by choosing the location, budget and characteristics of their future home. Then based on their two algorithms, Localizer, a geographic recommendation algorithm, and Pricer, a financial estimation algorithm, Habx matches the customer’s expectations with available real estate programs.
Klarx launched an online platform for renting construction equipment in 2015 and since then, customers like Strabag, Max Bögl and Deutsche Bahn have been able to find the machine they are looking for in just a few clicks. With over 200,000 machines available, Klarx enables building projects to be planned in a more predictable, faster and cost-efficient manner. In 2018 they raised €4 million and just raised another round of €12.5 million, positioning themselves as pioneers in the digitalisation of construction machinery rental.
Qualis Flow is a cloud-based software for monitoring and forecasting environmental risk in construction. The London-based startup helps contractors to track, monitor and predict the environmental risks of their projects, and thus reduce their overall carbon footprint. In addition, its features enable compliance, automated reporting and optimisation of decision making. In June 2019, the startup raised €800k seed to further develop its platform and attract more customers like their early adopter, Canary Wharf Contractors.
Smartbeam – The Belgian startup Smartbeam simplifies budget management on construction projects. Its product is a budget management platform that helps construction companies and real estate developers drastically increase project efficiency and collaboration, from the pre-construction phase to the construction phase. The platform completely transforms the way budget information is shared between all site stakeholders, saving 50% of your time while minimising financial risks.
Spacemaker – This Oslo-based startup’s mission is to design better cities with AI. Its technology helps city planners, real estate developers, and architects to maximise the potential of a building site by allowing them to explore and generate a multitude of site proposals and choose the best ones. Spacemaker combines expertise from a wide range of fields including architecture, mathematics, physics, and machine learning to provide users with creative, high-quality site proposals so that municipalities and developers can build more efficiently and densely to accommodate the world’s rapidly growing cities. Founded in 2016, Spacemaker has offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Barcelona and Boston, and recently raised a €22 million Series A round to accelerate the company’s roll out, further develop its product and grow its engineering and commercial teams.
XYZ Reality is a construction tech startup based in London providing an augmented reality solution. Founded in 2017, XYZ Reality offers building information modelling (BIM) to transform the way people work in construction by delivering a 3D view of a site, which, along with augmented reality technology, promises to construction costs by 20% and speed up project tasks by up to 69%.
Bobtrade simplifies the lives of builders and merchants by offering an online building supplies marketplace. The UK startups was founded in 2016 with the aim of providing a more efficient way to buy and sell building materials. With over 100,000 products available, Bobtrade’s advanced trading platform is a smart tool in the hands of the construction professionals, supporting the management and procurement of their projects, guaranteeing the best price and availability.
Ogun – Dubbed as the new operating system for construction companies and their suppliers, Ogun is a Barcelona-based startup that offers a collaborative platform for the construction industry. On one side, it enables construction sites to manage their planning, materials, files and discussions with all employees and suppliers in one place, and on the other, suppliers can manage their catalogues, orders and deliveries. Launched in 2019, this digital solution supports better project management, supplier integration and transparency in the construction industry.
Capmo‘s vision is to digitise the entire construction process and improve on-site collaboration. Founded in early 2018, their AI-based software serves as a tool for construction documentation, defects and task management. Capmo is already successfully used in hundreds of large and small construction projects such as the Hilton Munich Hotel, the renovation of the Oberpollinger department store and a variety of public construction projects.
BuildSafe is a Stockholm-based company that provides a safety management cloud service for the construction industry. The tool helps construction companies and builders with reporting, documenting and monitoring risks in construction projects and at the same time reduces unnecessary paperwork. Founded in 2015, Buildsafe already has some major clients such as Skanska and Fabege and €1 million in funding to bring more transparency in the sector.
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