Building Blocks: 100+ Startups Transforming The Construction Industry

Construction is an asset-heavy industry that startups and investors are increasingly recognizing as a sector primed for digitization. 2017 has already seen approximately $169M in disclosed funding across at least 25 deals to construction tech companies.

Startups in the space are attacking the industry across diverse areas such as field management and equipment and construction materials marketplaces. In particular, we have seen a surge in the applications of mobile and cloud technologies, AI and robotics, AR/VR, and CAD software towards the construction industry.

Using CB Insights’ platform, we identified 100+ startups working in construction tech, and categorized them into a market map spanning 13 key emerging categories and subcategories, including marketplaces, monitoring and safety, and design technologies. We define our construction tech category as startups working on software tools and platforms used by different participants in the industry including architects, developers, builders, and contractors.

Scroll down to read a full description of categories and a table with every startup included in our map.

Click on the image to enlarge. Market map is not meant to be exhaustive of companies in the space. Companies are categorized according to primary use case.

Collaboration Software – This was the largest category in our market map and encompasses areas such as project and task management, digital scheduling and time tracking, bid management, takeoff, and other collaboration tools.

• Project & Task Management: This subcategory includes companies that are creating project management tools for the construction industry, a majority of which have provided mobile solutions to allow construction workers to manage construction projects in the field. The most well-funded company in this space is construction tech unicorn Procore Technologies, a cloud-based construction management platform, which has raised over $180M to-date from ICONIQ Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, O’Connor Ventures, and other investors.
• Other Collaboration Tools: This section includes other collaboration tools for time tracking, bid management, and other areas. Stealth startup ALICE Technologies is one company in the space which is leveraging Building Information Modeling (BIM) to optimize construction scheduling. In the bid management space, one player is BuildingConnected, which has raised $8.5M from Brick and Mortar Ventures and Bee Partners among others.

Marketplaces – This category helps match clients or homeowners with construction needs spanning equipment, building materials, and contractors.

• Equipment Share: The biggest application for marketplaces in construction tech is for equipment. The most well-funded marketplace company is equipment marketplace EquipmentShare, which has raised nearly $34M in funding from Y Combinator, Insight Venture Partners, and Romulus Capital, among others.
• Other Marketplaces: This subcategory includes marketplaces beyond equipment including those for building materials and home improvement. In the building materials space, India-based company OfBusiness has raised $16M from Matrix Partners, Zodius Capital, among others. Other marketplaces include Architizer, an online architecture database, which has raised just under $15M and Work Today, which aims to connect construction workers with jobs via SMS. The company has raised $1.4M from Social Capital and other investors.

Frontier Tech & Robotics – Companies here use “frontier tech” — including drones, AR/VR, and robotics — and apply it to the construction industry.

• Drones: Drone companies provide aerial intelligence for the construction industry. The most well-funded company in this category is drone company 3D Robotics which has raised nearly $179M to-date from investors including a recent $53M Series D round led by Atlantic Bridge.
• AR / VR: AR/VR applications to the construction industry have grown in recent years. One company in this category is IrisVR, which has built a suite of virtual reality tools for the architecture and design industries. The company has raised nearly $11M from investors such as Emergence Capital Partners, Morningside Ventures, and others.
• Construction Robots – Companies in this category are using robots (non-drones) to automate historically manual construction tasks. We identified a few players in the space, one of which is India-based Endless Robotics, which has developed a robotic solution for applying paints and coatings on walls. The startup has received $100K in seed funding to-date.

Design Technologies – This category features companies leveraging construction design technologies including using computer-aided design (CAD) and building information modeling (BIM) to create digital representations of physical building characteristics. 3D CAD platform Onshape is one company in this space, which has raised $169M to-date from Andreessen Horowitz, Bolt Innovation Group, New Enterprise Associates, among other investors.

Inventory & Supply Chain Management – This section includes companies focusing on inventory and supply chain management for the construction industry. The most well-funded company in this category is construction tech unicorn Katerra, a California-based offsite construction company streamlining the design-bid-build process, which has raised over $264M to-date from DFJ Growth Fund, Foxconn Technology Company, and Khosla Ventures, among others.

Risk Management  –  Companies in this category focus on various aspects of risk management including overall end-to-end risk management, compliance, and monitoring and safety solutions for the construction industry.

• Monitoring and Safety: This is the largest subcategory within risk management and includes companies focusing on inspection, monitoring, and safety within the construction industry. Human Condition Safety is one company in the space that is leveraging wearable technology, AI, and BIM to create safer job sites. The company has raised just under $16M from American International Group and other investors.
• Compliance & Security: Companies in this area focus on various facets of compliance. For example, New Orleans-based lien rights management platform Express Lien (dba Zlien) has raised over $7M from Brick and Mortar Ventures, Altos Ventures, and other investors.

Data and Analytics – This section includes companies focusing on data management, predictive analytics, and other models to enhance processes and provide better intelligence to the construction tech industry. The most well-funded company here is construction tech unicorn Uptake Technologies, a Chicago-based predictive analytics platform which has raised $135M to-date from Revolution, Caterpillar, GreatPoint Ventures, and other investors.

Financial Management – This was one of the smaller categories in our map and includes Joist, a software tool for contractors that allows them to estimate, invoice, and manage projects. Joist raised a seed round in 2015 from Accomplice and Matrix Partners.

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