Dive brief:
- Cemex Ventures, the high-profile contech investment arm of Cemex based in Madrid, Spain, has selected the eight finalists in its category. Construction initiation contestannounced the signing on October 19.
- The eight international startups were selected in four categories: green construction, improved productivity, construction supply chain and the future of construction.
- The companies will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals at Pitch Day 2023, held at Trimble’s Dimensions User Conference on Nov. 7 in Las Vegas, according to the release. For the first time, the three medalists will also receive an additional cash prize.
Diving knowledge:
Cemex Ventures ran this year’s iteration with a range of partners including construction technology giant Trimble, engineering firm Black & Veatch and contractor Haskell’s investment arm Dysruptek. Since the launch of the annual competition in 2017, organizers have received more than 3,000 applications.
During Pitch Day 2023, startups will pitch to executive representatives, network with industry leaders and have access to capital investment and full-scale pilots, according to Cemex.
The startups come from countries and regions around the world and feature no-return winners last year’s competition.
The eight startups are:
- Civic Robotics (United States) – Builds autonomous mapping systems for the construction industry with an emphasis on solar farm and highway projects that require thousands of coordinates per day.
- Constructex (Ecuador) – Digitizes construction suppliers in Latin America, offering software tools to suppliers, primarily SMEs, to help them manage their digital presence, find and manage customers and grow their businesses with data.
- firstplanit (UK): Provides designers, developers and manufacturers with information on the environmental, social, health and monetary benefits of building materials and products through a digital platform.
- first line (Singapore) – Develops proprietary optimization algorithms that enable contractors to identify efficient actions in their construction planning simulation and optimization platform.
- Fill up (UK) – Delivers real-time remote site visibility to construction with its AI-based job execution platform. Workers use it to record work-related and safety-related activities using unstructured data such as video, audio or text, which Fyld’s AI analyzes simultaneously.
- RodRadar (Israel): Detects underground utility infrastructure automatically and in real-time during excavation without the need for expert analysis using its Live Dig Radar. Its debut product LDR Excavate, an excavator bucket with integrated LDR radar imaging technology, detects and alerts the excavator operator of all types of pipelines and utilities.
- sensmore (Germany) – Leverages new radar technology and artificial intelligence to solve heavy machinery automation challenges. Its plug-and-play, vehicle-independent software can be deployed in mining, quarrying and similar sectors.
- Vizcab (France) – Focuses on the impact of the embodied carbon of materials. It offers solutions from carbon budgeting to accounting and regulatory reporting.
