Dive Brief:

• Suffolk Technology, in partnership with Suffolk Capital — a venture capitalist arm of the major contractor — announced the five finalists for its first Boost program, a mini-accelerator program for construction technology startups.
• In the four-week program, the startups’ founders will work with Suffolk leaders, technology experts and academics to solve their firms’ challenges and help them expand networks and showcase their solutions.
• The five startups came from a field of 80 applicants, with an emphasis on design, supply chain, fintech and environmental spaces.

Dive Insight:

The finalists chosen by Suffolk to participate in the Boost program are:

• Canvas, a construction robotics company that seeks to increase productivity on jobsites and shave days and money off of construction projects.
• Diamond Age, a startup that claims it will use automation and robotics to collapse the supply chain of single-family construction, connecting landowners to buyers faster.
• Flexbase, an automated payment software system for contractors that promises faster payments.
• PassiveLogic, a building management software system built with a digital twin foundation and designed to aid with managing buildings — from planning through construction and maintenance.
• Thrux, an MEP design platform designed to help engineers and contractors link cost to specifications on projects, as if “spell checking” them against possible code violations.

The Boost program partners Suffolk with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Real Estate, Bain Capital Ventures and a new jointly launched fund from Romulus Capital and EquipmentShare.

The program will consist of lectures and discussions from Suffolk leaders and MIT professors, dedicated time to test the finalists’ products and solutions on Suffolk project sites, and a showcase day to allow the startups to share their products with potential industry investors and partners.

“We were so impressed with all the startups that applied to our Boost program and we are thrilled with the finalists we have chosen to provide innovative solutions for addressing some of the greatest challenges in our industry,” Jit Kee Chin, chief data and innovation officer for Suffolk said in the release.