The 10 Ground-breaking ConTech Startups

Construction in the post COVID era has seen enormous attempts for adopting to technological solutions that can significantly improve efficiency and productivity in the entire construction process. From project management software based on video analytics to AI powered digital blueprints and BIM (Building Information Modelling), these technologies have successfully streamlined workflows, reduced errors, and minimized delays. Many startups and companies have mushroomed themselves by introducing ground breaking technologies.

Here is the list of 10 Ground-breaking ConTech Startups which have flourished with their advanced technological innovations in past few years.

viAct

CEO:Gary Ng

Location:Asia

Foundation Year: 2016

Total Funding:US $ 2M

What it does?

Develops and applies its renowned proprietary Scenario-Based AI vision technologies for optimizing safety, productivity and costs in critical jobsites including construction. viAct has also expanded its reach to oil & gas, mining, facility management andalso provides smart vision intelligence solution for smart city projects and AI solutions for the government, public sector & private sector.

Why A Ground-breaking ConTech Startup?

viAct brings real-time processing control in the jobsites like construction, by utilizing the cognitive ability of Artificial Intelligence with the aim of monitoring workplace safety for critically risky industries. viAct with its extremely granular scenario-based vision intelligence solutions for governments, public and private sector; have been successfully deploying its solutions in Hong Kong, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, India & Europe. Its well-trained AI modules are far smarter than various other peers working in the same genera. In this notion, it is worth mentioning that instead of “AI computer vision” viAct has pushed itself forward in a way that it provides construction surveillance through “scenario-based vision intelligence”. Further what makes viAct ground-breakingis the fact that when other peers have developed AI algorithms to just detect non-compliances in construction safety and productivity, viAct has added a smarter touch to its video surveillance system by training it to acquire insights vision technology and transform it into practical actions through audio-visual alerts. Further, viAct has developed a very simple, intuitive, ready-to-use deployment model that adds another unique feather to its crown. Moreover, viAct has achieved many milestones through its course of journey:

• viAct is recognised for its R&D proof solution by Forbes Asia, World Economic Forum (WEF), Google, KPMG, Slingshot 2021, WSHAsia.
• viAct has recently been certified by Google for its sustainability matrix especially for its contribution in uplifting social sustainability for construction businesses along with improving environmental sustainability of construction sites through its unique environmental modules.
• viAct has launched its smart site safety system & video surveillance system for other industries than construction like oil & gas, mining, facility management, smart city projects.
• viAct has become the first Asian AI company tointegrate with Autodesk Forge & Autodesk Construction Cloud – which is world’s leading construction cloud thereby boosting its operations further.
• viAct has published 5+ research papers in several renowned journals, such as ResearchGate and International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management(IJAEM) which is the highest number of research papers published in ConTech till date.
• viAct has developed 30+ specified modules for construction sectors extending its operational radius from construction safety and productivity to environmental compliances.

OpenSpace

CEO:Jeevan Kalanithi

Location:San Francisco

Foundation Year: 2017

What it does?

OpenSpace provides next generation 360° construction photo documentation that allows the people in the real world to efficiently capture and analyse their work to get things done.

Why A Ground-breaking ConTech Startup?

OpenSpace aims at bringing accountability and clarity in construction by digitally recording the visual images of the construction projects at its different stages of progress, thus allowing the customers to observe and review the project. All that is needed to be done is turn on the 360° camera and walk down the jobsite and the OpenSpace Vision Engine automatically maps photos to the plans with unmatched speed and simplicity. Further, what makes OpenSpace ground-breaking is it’s easy to use 360° construction photo documentation software which helps keep the jobsite fully documented all the time, thus enabling the stakeholders to see their site, from anywhere, anytime. In addition, the company has successfully captured 6 million square feet and 350 million images of active construction projects and has projects in 71 countries. Another milestone achieved by the company has been that, it has announced ‘OpenSpace Basic’ which is industry’s first completely free 360° video capture tool.

Versatile

CEO:Meirav Oren

City:Los Altos, California

Foundation Year: 2016

What it does?

Versatile uses machine learning and AI to bring data driven precision to construction; thus, empowering the professionals to make rapid, data-driven decisions that support productivity and safety in the jobsite.

Why A Ground-breaking ConTech Startup?

Versatile has pioneered a new non-intrusive way of capturing the performance data of the jobsite that has given construction professionals the power to take decisive actions that help in moving the projects forward in a faster and safer way without disrupting their existing processes. The company attempts at connecting all the fragmented pieces of construction process into a single source of productivity and precision by turning construction into a fully controllable manufacturing process. In order to achieve this, it captures and analyses data points to deliver real-time insights on the performance of the jobsite and thus, streamlines decision-making. Its CraneView technology is the first-of-its-kind that offers unparalleled production data on any jobsite including information on materials, redundancies, construction progress, and crane utilization – all by simply mounting the CraneView devices under the hook of any crane. Further, what makes Versatile ground-breaking is that it’s CraneView hardware and software solution integrates quickly and seamlessly into the existing processes, without wasting any time on any extra steps. The crane installation takes place within a matter of a few seconds without any manual data input or manipulation. As soon as the Versatile team uploads the site plans, models and schedules and the client’s team adds the CraneView devices to the site cranes, the data becomes live and accessible to the stakeholders from anywhere. Further, the CraneView begins measuring thousands of data points within the pick cycle. It provides a real understanding of the time taken to do anything with the crane. Production rates and outliners can also be identified, thus giving the insights required to augment performance in the jobsite.

Holobuilder

CEO:Mostafa Akbari-Hochberg

City:Lake Mary, Florida

Foundation Year: 2014

What it does?

HoloBuilder™ allows the various construction stakeholders to obtain remote access to their construction jobsites, and provides them a platform to see all the details – current as well as historical – of project progress in 360°.

Why A Ground-breaking ConTech Startup?

HoloBuilder™ provides the stakeholders a platform to easily capture, view and control the progress of projects with 360° photos, thus enabling the teams to stay on-time and budget. HoloBuilder’s platform is built around three powerful workflows: Capture, View & Control progress. All these workflows are bound together with the powerful Enterprise Dashboard for secure and compliant data management. Further, HoloBuilder’s“ JobWalk” app guides the process to effortlessly capture 360° and 2D photos of the jobsite, automatically organized by project, floor plan and date/time. Further with HoloBuilder™, stakeholders can view their projects in 360° from anywhere and anytime as the photos become available instantly, and the projects are fully documented and recorded for photographic proof of progress, whenever required. Further, what makes HoloBuilder™ a ground-breaking ConTech startup is that it provides the stakeholders a platform to compare 360° photos alongside,with their BIM models, project schedules and historical photos to ensure that the progress of the project is going as planned. Moreover, with HoloBuilder™ all the stakeholders canget on the same page about project progress. Thus, HoloBuilder™ improves the workflows, leverages collaborations, and increases transparency by allowing the stakeholders to share the same information and perspective with everyone. Further in terms of recent milestones achieved, FARO, a 3D imaging and measurement firm has recently acquired Holobuilder.

Buildots

CEO:Roy Danon

City:Tel Aviv-Yafo, Central Israel

Foundation Year: 2018

What it does?

Buildots aims at changing the way the construction projects are delivered by offering a more efficient and accurate way of working using digitalization, computer vision & AI and helping the construction management teams with timely and relevant intelligence that helps eliminate errors, delays and expensive mistakes.

Why A Ground-breaking ConTech Startup?

Buildots works towards transforming the construction jobsites into data-driven digital environment. With Buildots’ automate inspections; issues can be identified before they escalate. It’s solution – a 360° camera and powerful AI – turnsevery walk down the jobsite into valuable process data which can be immediately used for gaining holistic control of a project. It thus enables maximum control of construction processes with minimal efforts. While on one hand, the head-mounted 360°camera gives the on-site teams a fast way to capture the real-time happenings; on the other hand a sophisticated AI constantly compares work to design and schedule to generate actionable information as soon as any discrepancy uncovers. Moreover, with Buildots’ intuitive virtual control panel, the stakeholders get a complete control of the jobsite and the timely alerts let them know of any discrepancy so that they can take the situation under control. What makes Buildots a ground-breaking ConTech startup is that it empowers managers to spend less time on chasing information and invest more time in managing construction. Thus, Buildots allows catching issues faster with early warnings, make decisions based on objective facts, gives everyone a single source of truth, helps transition to data-based management, and keep every project on-track and on-budget.

SafeAI

CEO:Bibhrajit Halder

City:California

Foundation Year: 2017

What it does?

SafeAI Autonomous Platform brings advanced AI and Autonomous Vehicle technology to mining and construction industries.

WhyAGround-breaking ConTech Startup?

SafeAI has developed the world’s first and safest open autonomous framework and autonomous kits that are targeted at the off-road heavy industry. The SafeAI Autonomous Framework (SAF) is the world’s first comprehensive, safety certifiable operating system purpose built for heavy industry applications of autonomy. The SAF gives proven, production-ready infrastructure that helps fast track application development and accelerates any company’s transition to autonomy.  With this, the industry’s leading off-road autonomy platform is put in to the hands of OEMs and tier 2 manufactures; thus, enabling them to deliver faster autonomous solutions, at lower cost and most prominently with the highest level of safety. What makes SafeAI ground-breaking is that SafeAI’s operating system meets MISRA standards and requirements of safety. Further, SafeAI Autonomous Kit retrofits the existing equipment, irrespective of the equipment manufacturer, thus maximizing the jobsite productivity without replacing the existing equipment. Thus, with SafeAI Autonomous Kit the existing machines transform into self-operating robotic assets, in turn unlocking full utilization and productivity in the jobsite.

AI Clearing

CEO:Michael Mazur

City:Austin, Texas

Foundation Year: 2020

What it does?

AI Clearing is a construction technology platform that leverages AI and advanced GIS analytics to automate infrastructure construction progress reporting

Why A Ground-breaking ConTech Startup?

AI Clearing’s SaaS solution – AI HEART – which is based on machine learning solutions automates the analytic process and shortensprogress tracking of the construction jobsite.Further using drone data, reports covering the entire construction site surface is created in 3D. Apart from drone-based data, AI Clearing’s solution also crunches multiple types of digital data available and performs advanced and automated 4D geospatial analytics, thus shortening the reporting cycle and delivering comprehensive reports in the form of interactive, online dashboards and PDF formats. Further, AI Clearing is also capable enough to feed the data and reports directly into the existing system of client’s organisation. What makes AI Clearing a ground-breaking ConTech startup is its unique technology consisting of state-of-art semantic segmentation; unique data fusion approach; and workflow automation. Moreover, AI Clearing’s proprietary solution increases efficiency, reduces the surveying costs and mitigates risks related to construction.

GoContractor

CEO:John Naughton

City: New York

Foundation Year: 2012

What it does?

GoContractor is a digital onboarding and subcontractor management platform that helps the construction general contractors to move their worker onboarding and sub-contractor safety management online.

Why A Ground-breaking ConTech Startup?

GoContractor is designed to make contractor management easy. Collecting, copying, and storing workers’ qualifications and information is both time and resource consuming, but with GoContractor workers and sub-contractors can upload all the necessary information about the worker before they enter the jobsite. Further, proper training and orientation of the workers is critical, but in-person training is very time-consuming. But by moving project orientations online with GoContractor, construction companies can let their workers train and on-board themselves, whenever and wherever required. Moreover, GoContractor acts a central database for the clients, having details of all the workers and companies eligible to work on their project(s). What make GoContractor a ground-breaking ConTech startup is its check-in/check-out QR codes that let the clients quickly verify worker qualifications using their mobile device. In addition to this, scanning GoContractor’s QR code enabled hard hat sticker, ID card, or digital ID card with any mobile device enables the clients to see worker’s registration and training details. Apart from this the daily screening checklist helps automate the process of asking heath screening questions while keeping detailed records of the worker’s responses. Thus, GoContractor allows construction workers and subcontractors to get on site 3x faster all while digitizing worker records, making them searchable and accessible from anywhere.

INDUS.AI

CEO:Matt Man

City:San Francisco, California

Foundation Year:2017

What it does?

The INDUS.AI SaaS 3D computer vision platform enables developers, project managers, and general contractors to optimize labour, equipment, and materials.

Why A Ground-breaking ConTech Startup?

INDUS.AI provides to the general contractors, developers and the construction industry, visibility and transparency into the construction jobsite. The company also provides powerful project control insights in order to make the construction sites predictable, stable and safe. INDUS.AI’s smart and continually learning algorithms monitor and analyse video feeds from strategically placed site cameras. Data and just-in-time actionable insights are generated by levering the power of computer vision that empowers the construction stakeholders to mitigate costs and schedule risks. INDUS.AI develops and licenses its artificial intelligence construction analytics platform that counts trucks, material arrivals, and measures equipment productivity.It provides advanced real-time project controls for reconciling over-billed charges and correcting schedules.What makes INDUS.AI a ground-breaking ConTech startup is its software that is powered by a proprietary machine vision neural network, which can accurately recognize 100+ types of construction equipment and activities. Apart from this, INDUS.AI has top GC firms of the world, such as Ryan Companies, AECOM Tishman and PCL Construction, as its customers. Its reach spans worldwide with over 83 million SF of projects monitored in the US, Canada, Hong Kong & Brazil. Further in terms of recent milestones achieved, INDUS.AI has been recently acquired by Procore – a leading provider of construction management software.

StructionSite

CEO:Matt Daly

City:Oakland, California

Foundation Year:2016

What it does?

StructionSite is a construction software that provides easy photo and video site documentation of the construction field to provide visibility to the while team into daily project updates.

Why A Ground-breaking ConTech Startup?

StructionSite is a platform built by construction veterans to solve the problems of site documentation. This easy-to-use platform seamlessly tracks the progress of a project, anywhere, anytime. StrctionSite’s toolbox of add-on products brings site documentation into the 21^st century. Its SiteDoc offers the clients a single source of truth, keeping all the stakeholders up-to-date with accurate, actionable information just at their fingertips. Further, when the stakeholders upload their plans and use the VideoWalk, the advanced computer vision automatically tracks the path of the stakeholder and each date-stamped photo appears in its correct location on the drawing. What makes StructionSite a ground-breaking ConTech startup is its automated production tracking tool – SmartTrack® – that makes tracking visible and scopes-of-work an organized and seamless process. Further, this tool is capable of providing insight into planned vs. actual production rates, that makes it one-of-its-kind. The SmartTrack® provides actionable productivity metrics and visualizing progress using images captured through site documentation.