Construction competition seeks environmental, jobsite, supply chain solutions

Dive Brief:

Major construction players CEMEX Ventures, Ferrovial, Dysruptek (a Haskell venture), HILTI, GS Futures, Vinci Groups’ Leonard platform and NOVA by Saint-Gobain are looking for transformative, innovative construction startups in the annual Construction Startup Competition.
This year’s program includes five categories for entrants: carbon footprint mitigation, supply chain management, efficient jobsites and built environment, advanced building materials and new construction methods.
Startups have until June 27 to apply in one of the categories that make up the fifth edition of the competition, which in the past selected startups that have gone on to commercial success.

Dive Insight:

Startups that apply will be introduced to networking opportunities with multinational companies, the CEMEX Ventures site says. Once the winners of the competition are announced on Oct. 26, they’ll get the chance to showcase their solution to the seven directors of the organizing companies in a "pitchday" event.

Specific startup solutions that fall under the categories include:

Carbon footprint mitigation: Carbon footprint reduction in construction; circular economy processes; effective resource management; waste management in construction; and demolition and excavation
Supply chain management: Procurement; estimating and quoting; logistics coordination and materials tracking; inventory management and onsite handling; fleet management and dispatching.
Efficient jobsite and built environment: Communication, coordination, progress monitoring and improved information flow systems; data analysis, optimization, prediction and analytics; schedule management and execution; health, safety, environment and quality procedure enhancements; and captured data for connected jobsites.
Advanced building materials: Alternatives to traditional materials with better performance and revolutionizing current materials.
New Construction Methods: Robotic solutions for process automation, offsite and modular construction; 3D printing; and IoT sensors.

Winners from the Construction Startup Competition 2020 include Built Robotics, a firm specializing in fully autonomous earth-moving equipment that was recognized in the new materials and construction methods category, and Soil Connect, a digital marketplace for transporting and acquiring soil, aggregates and other building materials at shorter distances to reduce CO2 emissions, which was recognized in the safety and sustainability category.