Good As Gold: Pitch Day 2022

This year, the lead up to Pitch Day 2022 left us on the edge of our seats, wondering which of the extraordinary Construction Startup Competition 2022 winners would take home the gold medal in their category. Bigger and better than previous editions, thousands of investors, thought leaders, startups, and representatives from SMEs and industry leading corporations came together on November 7 鈥� 9 to take part in Groundbreak, the leading construction technology conference.听

We hosted Pitch Day on the final day of Groundbreak to bring the conference鈥檚 attendees together to watch the 2022 winners pitch their revolutionary business models. New business models and technologies were a hot topic this year more than ever as economic downturns increase the need for enhanced productivity and better profits, and geopolitical conflicts pose an undeniable threat to global supply chains. Together with looming climate goals and the urgency for 鈥済reener鈥� and new construction technologies, the industry is looking forward and Contech startups are in view!听

If you weren鈥檛 able to attend this year鈥檚 Pitch Day, watch the event live, or if you simply want a recap of the program and the winning startup鈥檚 solutions, keep reading!

The game

To accomplish the sixth annual Construction Startup Competition鈥檚 objective, 鈥淏uilding a Boundless New World,鈥� we brought together the world鈥檚 leading Contech startups together in one place, challenged them, and connected them to the industry鈥檚 leading corporate players. But the participation of hundreds of international startups revealed some interesting trends in our industry that we thought were worth sharing with you.听听

In 2022, most startup solutions were related to enhancing productivity in the construction value chain, followed solutions improving the Competition鈥檚 three other focus areas: Green Construction, Construction鈥檚 Future is Now, and Construction Supply Chain, respectively. See below the breakdown of applications according to each focus area:听

37% 鈥� Enhanced Productivity: These are solutions that seek to increase efficiency and productivity to improve stakeholders鈥� collaboration, communication, and coordination throughout a connected and monitored construction value chain.听听
23% 鈥� Greener Construction: Startups that play a key role in the transition to a Low-Carbon Economy by decarbonizing the built environment, mitigating its carbon footprint, and promoting circular economy by giving a new life to used and demolished materials fall under this focus area.听
21% 鈥� Construction鈥檚 Future is Now: These solutions aim to build a better planet with robotics and machine assisted applications, advanced building materials and industrialized construction methodologies to boost productivity, enforce radical efficiency and make the future of construction a reality today.听
19% 鈥� Construction Supply Chain: Involves helping key industry actors to get the right resources to the right place at the right time for a more efficient construction ecosystem. These startups drive the construction industry by optimizing resource sourcing, material and fleet tracking and inventory management.听

But let鈥檚 take a deeper look at the players (Contech startups) behind these solutions. 60% of the applications we received were from startups in Europe and North America, however, we also saw a lot of mature and promising solutions from startups in Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. Notable countries with a strong representation of Contech startups included the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany, Spain, France, Canada, Chile, Colombia, India, Israel, Australia and Singapore. We are excited to continue receiving applications from startups in these regions in next year鈥檚 edition, but also look forward to the internationalization of the competition as we get bigger every year. Who knows from where we鈥檒l see the strongest Contech solutions in 2023!听

Don鈥檛 forget these Contech startup players when you see their national teams playing in the 2022 FIFA World Cup鈩� starting this week! Here you can see the breakdown of applications by geographical region:听听

Europe 鈥� 32%听
North America 鈥� 28%听听
Latin America 鈥� 16%听
APAC 鈥� 14%听
Middle East 鈥� 6%听听
Africa 鈥� 5%听听

If you鈥檙e interested in reading more of the industry specific insights that the Construction Startup Competition 2022 revealed, we invite you to take a look at our blog, The World Cup of ConTech: 鈥淓xpect Amazing鈥�.

The pitches

After announcing this year鈥檚 Competition winners on October 26, 2022, the eight victorious startups quickly prepared their pitches and flew in from around the world in order to be able to compete for the gold medal in each of their categories: Green Construction, Enhanced Productivity, Construction Supply Chain, and Construction鈥檚 Future is Now.听听

Each startup was selected because of its solution with the potential to revolutionize and innovate the construction industry, but let鈥檚 take a closer look at each value proposition and the representatives battling it out for 1st place:听

GREEN CONSTRUCTION听

(United Kingdom) represented by Co-founder & CEO, . 2050 Materials is a platform to find, compare, and specify sustainable building products to save time and money at any project stage.听
(United States) represented by founder, . Carbon Limit鈥檚 carbon negative cement technology reduces the carbon footprint of concrete & turns it into a CO2 sponge.听

ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY听

(Israel) represented by Co-founder and CEO, . Constru has created an AI-powered construction solution that turns captured imagery into insights for better data-driven decision making.听
(United States) represented by , Business Development Manager. Exodigo鈥檚 Cutting-edge sensors and AI technology identifies utilities and other underground entities accurately without the need to dig.听

CONSTRUCTION SUPPLY CHAIN听听

(Germany) represented by Co-founder, . Its Purchase2Pay platform connects the procurement department, construction site, and external suppliers – from requisition over invoice verification to payment.听
(United States) represented by Founder and CEO, . Soil Connect is a Dirt & Aggregates Marketplace that connects those who have soil and aggregates with those who need it.听

FUTURE OF CONSTRUCTION IS NOW听

(United States) represented by CEO, . Automatic Construction creates cast in place concrete buildings at 1/5th the cost using pre-fab inflatable concrete formwork.听
(United States) represented by Co-founder and CEO, . Loris offers portable, battery-powered light towers to instantly deliver safety, security, WiFi, and transparency to job sites.

The gold medalists

After an intense period of evaluation and voting from the judges, the gold medalists were announced as: CARBON LIMIT, EXODIGO, SOIL CONNECT, and AUTOMATIC CONSTRUCTION.听听

Take a look at some of our favorite memories from Pitch Day 2022 and see the startup winners and gold medalists:

Here’s what the Construction Startup Competition 2022 winners and gold medalists had to say:

鈥淎s far as [Pitch Day] goes, it was extremely useful for us, both for exposure to the market but also to just understand a little bit better how the U.S. market works, and generally to grow our network on the investors side, as well as with corporates that we can collaborate with. So overall, a great experience. I would recommend it to any founder that is interested.鈥�

鈥淥ur participation in this year鈥檚 competition helped us connect more deeply with CEMEX and CEMEX Ventures, and help identify some potential collaborations and hopefully some business opportunities.鈥�

鈥淲e had applied to [Construction Startup Competition 2021] but weren鈥檛 accepted...but participation in [the competition] has been fantastic for our growth. We鈥檝e been connected to the best of the best of construction. Being a gold medal winner at [Pitch Day] was fantastic and has opened up a huge horizon in terms of project and pilots that we have now signed for the rest of the year and early next year for our technology, so thanks a lot!"

"The CEMEX [Ventures] startup competition has been a really amazing experience for us. We applied because we knew that CEMEX was one of the top players in the innovation industry, working with some of the best customers and startups around...The reach that this event is able to give you is really second to none!"

"Making it to the [Construction Startup Competition] list has heIped Soil Connect become a known entity, here in the U.S. and around the world, helped us with fundraising, and helped us with opening doors to our key users. I strongly recommend that everyone take the time to fill out the application and apply next year!"

The jury

Each entrepreneur presented a 4-minute pitch, which was followed by a brief Q&A section from the jury. This year鈥檚 jury consisted of the Competition’s partners, made up of the following members:听

CEMEX Ventures:听Gonzalo Galindo, Managing Director
Black & Veatch: Ilya Tabakh, Innovation Manager听听
Dysruptek by Haskell: Cutler Knupp, Managing Director听听
Ferrovial: Ciro Acedo, Open Innovation Manager听听
GS Futures: Aaron Topston, Innovation Manager听听
Hilti:听Johannes Paefgen, Technology Office Director
VINCI Group鈥檚 Leonard: Louis Cottin, CATALYST Program Manager听听
NOVA by Saint-Gobain: Nicholas Deraney, Venture Analyst听听
Procore Technologies, Inc.:听Riggs Kubiak, Entrepreneur In Residence (EIR)听
Zacua Ventures: Mauricio Weiss, Founding Partner

What鈥檚 next?

This event would not be possible without the hundreds of Contech startups that apply to the Construction Startup Competition every year, and who believe in themselves and their solutions to disrupt the construction industry. Keep applying! Every year the solutions we receive are more and more mature and promising and we owe this to the increased competition with each new edition.听听

We look forward to seeing the Construction Startup Competition 2022 winners and gold medalists flourish and act as role models and/or mentors to up-and-coming Contech startups entering the sector. We know this is only the beginning of the story between our winners and CEMEX Ventures.听听听

Working with industry leaders and experts in the sector who are committed to its future has helped us to establish the Construction Startup Competition as the biggest startup competition in the construction industry. 188bet平台app partners like Black & Veatch, Dysruptek by Haskell, Ferrovial, GS Futures, Hilti, VINCI Group鈥檚 Leonard, NOVA by Saint-Gobain, Procore Technologies, Inc., and Zacua Ventures prove that collaboration across all levels and stakeholders is integral within our flourishing industry.听听

As we close this year鈥檚 competition, it鈥檚 our pleasure to announce that we鈥檙e already gearing up for Construction Startup Competition 2023. Start taking guesses where Pitch Day 2023 will be located! Next year鈥檚 edition may be different than this year鈥檚, but we promise a Competition that鈥檚 even better than the last, so with us this winter because you won鈥檛 want to miss out on what we have in store!

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