Amid an economic climate that has many businesses grappling with uncertainty, contech firms continue to draw investors, as demonstrated by London-based Disperse, which announced Tuesday that it has raised $16 million in new funding.
Disperse is an AI-driven construction platform that can track jobsite progress and issue warnings about potential rework using photographs. The company’s funding round was led by London-based venture capital firm 2150. Other participants included existing investors Northzone and Kindred Capital.
Disperse was formed out of a 2015 London School of Economics business incubator and has been on a roll since, picking up partnerships with firms like Providence, Rhode Island-based contractor Gilbane. On the executive side, the firm recruited Harsh Vardhan Singh from a former senior product leadership position at Amazon as its new chief product officer, according to a release.
Contech companies have kept a string of good news going amid broader economic conditions that have plagued businesses, such as the war in Ukraine and supply chain issues. Other contech firms that recently received funding include modular builder Nexii, and software firms Iris Technologies and TestFit.
CEO Felix Neufeld said in an interview with TechCrunch that construction has a “severe technology problem” and blasted what he called “false promises” by tech companies that burden contractors with overly technical processes.
This sentiment has been echoed by other contech executives and is a rallying cry for those who want to see the industry change to a more tech-driven ecosystem. Meirav Oren, the CEO of Versatile, expressed a similar sentiment in an interview with Construction Dive last year.
Oren said that the idea of construction being an industry that was slow to adapt was a “misconception,” and that it came down more to the tech vendors than builders to drive adoption home.
