CEMEX Ventures, CEMEX’s Corporate Venture Capital and Open Innovation unit, has released its yearly Top 50 ConTech Startups list. The selection features 2021´s top 50 solutions from the construction technology ecosystem from around the world, and the most promising for 2022.
Investment in the ConTech environment reached record levels in 2021, with over $4.5 billion USD invested to date, tripling the amount invested in 2020. This record-breaking year will end with a significant increase on investment, and it also tops the list as the one with most funding rounds and acquisitions made within the Contech ecosystem.
The new pain points in the industry, and CEMEX Ventures’ commitment to finding solutions that tackle these challenges, made the corporate venture capital renew its operational areas and debut new categories in the Top 50 ConTech Startups 2021 list, including:
- Green construction
- Construction supply chain
- Enhanced productivity
- Construction´s future is now
“As we predicted last year, sustainable solutions saw a spike in investment from leading companies and investors,” said Gonzalo Galindo, head of CEMEX Ventures. “We will continue seeing this trend in 2022, as well as more companies betting on solutions that help deal with the supply chain hurdles that the industry is experiencing. Supply chain management had been struggling pre-pandemic and with COVID-19, the challenges increased.”
Within the Top 50 ConTech Startups for 2021, North America and Europe are the leading regions, with the United States the country with the most companies on the list. Other regions with more participants selected include Latin America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, with United Kingdom, Germany and Israel, all of which are driving significant investment for the ConTech ecosystem.
During 2021, the startups from the 2020 list participated in multiple investment rounds, some even now being part of CEMEX Ventures investment portfolio or working closely with CEMEX. Likewise, some are undergoing projects with leading companies of the construction ecosystem and will continue making highlights in the coming year.
Startup Competition Winners Announced
CEMEX Ventures, together with Dysruptek, Ferrovial, GS Futures, Hilti, VINCI Group’s Leonard and NOVA by Saint-Gobain, also celebrated the Pitchday event for the ten winners of the Construction Startup Competition 2021.
The challenge is a key event for the industry and has seen more than 2,000 participants since its first edition. In the last two years, Construction Startup Competition gained even more traction by including leading companies in the industry as fellow organizers who share the same vision and desire for innovation in the sector. This collaboration and joint effort increase the possibility of future engagements and contact with potential customers for all the participants.
Startups competing in the event had the opportunity to present their projects to a jury composed of the top representatives of each organizing company, as well as an audience of experts in construction, investment and innovation. The winners have the chance to benefit from investments, pilot projects at a global scale as well as the chance to join the biggest ecosystem in the construction industry.
The 10 winners were selected as the most promising solutions within these five categories:
- carbon footprint mitigation
- supply chain optimization
- efficiency in the jobsite
- advanced building materials
- new construction methods
The Pitchday took place in Miami within the framework of the BuiltWorlds 2021 Venture East Conference event, where Document Cruch, a US-based startup offering an AI-powered software to identify and explain critical issues in construction contracts, was chosen as the gold medalist of the 2021 edition. The nine other startups recognized included:
- AI Clearing (United States) – Saas platform that integrates seamlessly several data sources into BI systems to provide digital insights.
- hyperTunnel (United Kingdom) – Patented new method to build and renew tunnels and underground infrastructures.
- Nodes & Links (United Kingdom) – AI-based platform to create smart machines to automate project management.
- ObraLink (Chile) – Data collection system to automate critical construction site activities such as concrete poured and formwork.
- Presien (Australia) – AI vision systems to free heavy industries from the risks that threaten the safety of their people and business.
- ProcurePro (Australia) – Digital subcontractor procurement platform to close the digital gap between bids & commitments.
- RatedPower (Spain) – Cloud-based software to carry out the design and engineering of utility-scale solar photovoltaic plants.
- Schüttflix (Germany) – Platform to order, transport, deliver and dispose bulk material 100% digitally.
- WASTEBOX (Austria) – Digital waste management platform to automatically connect customers with the right disposal partner for their project.
According to CEMEX Ventures, over the years, the quality and solutions that have emerged for construction has increased significantly, and investment figures in ConTech continue to rise. Investment reached a record-breaking figure in 2021 of over $2 billion USD invested through October, doubling the investment level when compared to previous years.
With these promising figures and a successful competition this year, CEMEX Ventures’ team is already preparing its 2022 edition with the intention of drawing an even more promising scenario for the ConTech ecosystem as well as for the all the startups that will participate in the next competition.
