PREPARED MIND Construction Technology - Base10 · Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 3...
Transcript of PREPARED MIND Construction Technology - Base10 · Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 3...
May 2018
P R E PAR E D M IN D
Construction Technology
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 2
E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y
Thesis
The construction industry has underinvested in technology over the last two decades resulting in many construction subsectors in need of automation improvements. Base10 believes the following key observations will drive the next wave of technology adoption in the sector: 1. Below the "enterprise" part of the market, tech penetration is still low, especially at the field level.
2. Existing workflow in the field is disjointed, inefficient, and provides a poor user experience which will lead
field operators to place increased emphasis on effective and streamlined collaboration tools.
3. Mobile is accelerating technology adoption by allowing all construction workers to capture real-time data at
scale and enabling significant growth opportunities.
4. System of record tools will continue to see increased penetration as the opportunities to leverage data to
build ancillary businesses increase.
Industry Key Takeaways
• The construction industry is one of the largest contributors to the world economy with an annual contribution
of $10 trillion, and is expected to reach $14 trillion by 2025, a CAGR of 3.8%.
• Despite being one of the largest sectors of the economy, the construction industry faces a productivity
problem due to limited investment in technology and inefficient awarding of procurement contracts driven by
a desire for the lowest price possible vs. the best balance of price and service.
• Accordingly, there are several opportunities for efficiency improvement through adoption of technology in the
industry, and while Base 10 has researched of most these areas, we are have emphasized three segments
– digital twin technology, construction management software, and insurance.
▪ Digital twin technology creates a digital replica of a project, enabling construction companies to track the
progress of projects in real time and detect errors as soon as they occur by comparing the as-built and
as-designed models, which can lead to significant cost savings. Companies Base10 has spent
significant time with include HoloBuilder, Veerum, Inovx, TADA Cognitive Solutions, and
onTarget.
▪ Construction Management Software enables the stakeholders involved in a project to collaborate more
efficiently by providing solutions that allow adjustments to construction blueprints and plans to be relayed
in real time to the construction site engineers and workers, as well as tools for mobile timekeeping, real-
time cost coding, geolocation of workers, and issue logging and tracking. Companies of high interest
to Base10 are Raken and Alice Technologies.
AI & Automation Key Takeaways
• The segments of the construction workflow cycle that are most dependant on software are accounting,
estimating, project management and scheduling. Currently, these workflows are still highly
dependent on spreadsheets as most existing software solutions are on-prem and lack AI
functionality.
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• The construction industry is lagging the broader economy when it comes to AI and automation
spending. Given the growing size and complexity of construction projects, spending on technological
advancements will be necessary to increase productivity.
• New surveying techniques that integrate HD photography, 3-D laser scanning, and geographic
information systems, can help to bridge the gap between estimates and actual ground
conditions and automate project planning and monitoring. Integrating these techniques with pre-
existing technologies, such as drones, unmanned-aerial-vehicles (UAV), and light-detection-and-
ranging (LIDAR) technology, provides high-quality 3-D images that can be aligned with project-planning
tools. Companies of high interest to Base10 in this vertical include Veerum.
Progress and Next Steps
• Base10’s Prepared Mind is the result of many months of work meeting with entrepreneurs,
executives, and analysts in the industry and seeing firsthand how leading competitors operate. This
report is a selective summary of what we have learned and includes highlights from several high
impact conversations (out of dozens) Base10 has held with leading technology minds, founders with
industry expertise, executives, and industry analysts.
• Base10’s Prepared Mind into the construction technology industry has led to the identification of
potential investment opportunities such as Raken, Holobuilder, Veerum, Block, Notevault,
Smartbid.io, and Built Robotics.
• We continue to speak with industry participants daily and learn more about the pain points across the
entire sector. Our high priority focus is in the subsectors of digital twin technology, construction related
insurance products, and construction management software. We are in active discussions with
several entrepreneurs building new and compelling business models across these and other
subsectors within the industry.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 4
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………….…………….2
Industry Key Takeaways……………………………………………………………………………….…2
AI & Automation Key Takeaways..………………………………………………………………….…2
Progress and Next Steps………………………………………………………………………………...2
Construction Technology……………………………………………………………………………………..5
Construction Industry Overview…………………………….…………………………………………..5
United States Construction Industry Outlook………….……………………………………………9
AI Automation Overview……….…………………………………………………….………………...13 HD Surveying and Geolocation……………………………………………………………………..16
5-D Building Information Modeling ……………………………………………………….….….…17
Digital Collaboration and Mobility ………………………………………………………….……... 17
Internet of Things and Advanced Analytics …………………………………………………..…. 18
Future-Proof Design and Construction …………………………………………………….……...19
Base10 High Priority Sub-Sectors ………………………………………………….………….…… 21
Digital Twin Technology ……………………………………………………………………………. 21
Construction Management Software………………………………………………………….…... 25
Construction Technology Landscape…………………………………………………………….… 28 Base10 Priority Ranking of Startup Landscape……………………………………………..…… 28
Comparables ………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. 40
Comparable Companies……………………………………………………………………………...… 40
Construction Technology Industry………………………………………………………………….…43
Research Process ………………………………………………………………………………………….…. 46
Real Economy Research Process………………………………………………………………...… 46
High Impact Corporates Interviews…………………………………….……………………….…47
Founder Interviews………………………………………………………………………….…….….…49
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 5
C O N S T R U C T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y
Construction Technology
Construction Technology Overview The construction industry is one of the largest contributors to the world economy with annual contribution of
$10 trillion and is expected to reach $14 trillion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 3.8%.1 The growth in the
industry will primarily be driven by new real estate construction and rising infrastructure spend due to
increasing urbanization and growing population. The construction industry currently employs ~7.0%2 of the
world’s working population and has bottom-quartile profit margins compared to the other sectors, which has
historically constrained investment in technology and digitalization.
The industry is highly fragmented with thousands of firms broadly classified into two categories of companies
– larger firms engaged in the heavy construction markets of civil, industrial, and residential, and smaller firms
engaged in specialized trades such as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing work that act as subcontractors to
the general contractors hired by the larger firms.
The lack of investment in tech and innovation has resulted in a noticeable productivity problem. Productivity
growth in construction was limited to 1.0% over the last two decades compared to 2.8% for the overall
economy. 3 According to McKinsey, if construction industry productivity increases to the level of the overall
economic productivity growth, there is an opportunity to add $1.6 trillion to the construction economy, which
will further give a boost to the global GDP by 2%.4
Real Gross Value Added per Hour Worked, Index of 2005 $: 100 = 1995 Source: Improving Construction Productivity, McKinsey Global Institute, February 2017
— 1 Improving construction productivity, McKinsey Global Institute, July 2017 2 Improving construction productivity, McKinsey Global Institute, July 2017 3 Improving construction productivity, McKinsey Global Institute, July 2017 4 Reinventing Construction: A Route to Higher Productivity, McKinsey, February 2017
121
170
196
Construction Global Economy Manufacturing
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 6
US Industry Productivity and Performance, 1964-2012
Source: Shaping the Future of Construction, WEF and BCG, may 2016
In addition to limited investment in technology by construction companies, suboptimal awarding of
procurement contracts is restraining productivity growth in the construction industry. Often, public and private
owners opt for firms that submit the lowest bids for awarding contracts, even though small and specialized
trade contractors offer higher productivity solutions. Per the industry estimates, the large-scale players are
20%-40% more productive than small-scale sub-contractors due to scale and their vast experience; however,
there remain challenges in meeting cost and schedule commitments on megaprojects even in the more-
productive heavy construction works, as large firms routinely sub-contract specialized trades to small-scale
firms.
The industry also suffers from a lack of proper knowledge transfer, as lessons learnt from one project are not
applied in subsequent projects. This is mainly because companies have not institutionalized proper knowledge
transfer processes, resulting in lost experience and expertise after the completion of a project.
Unlike other sectors, big data generated at the construction sites is not captured by construction firms. If such
real-time data from these sites were captured, processed and analyzed, it would enable managers to identify,
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
1964 1972 1980 1988 1996 2004 2012
153%
Construction Labor Productivity
RelativeImprovement
Non-farm Business Labor Productivity
-19%
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 7
predict and effectively tackle problems as they occur, thereby reducing the time and cost overruns. Digital twin
platforms and services have the potential to fix this problem, as they can act as a system of record across
projects and pillars within an organization.
Base10 believes that to bridge the productivity gap and compensate for the lack of skilled construction
labor, construction companies are going to invest more in new collaboration technologies, design and
engineering, and technologies such as big data analytics and digital twins that have the potential to significantly
increase on-site productivity.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 8
Potential Investment Opportunities across Construction Project Work Streams A construction project workflow cycle is highly dependent on spreadsheets and manual labor, which indicates
a lack of technology solutions. However, there is an upcoming trend of using technology to efficiently manage
the project work streams, resulting in rise of several new companies across segments.
Segment Company Description
Accounting GCPay Provides an online platform for automating subcontract management processes, specifically invoicing, compliance and lien waivers
Estimating STACK Technologies Provides construction estimating software coupled with the ability to share digital blueprint plans and collaborate in real time
Project Management Raken Provides construction management solutions such as daily reporting, sub-contractor reporting, and contractor reporting
Scheduling Alice Technologies Provides an automated BIM to provide optimized construction schedule solutions
Bid Management Building Connected Provides analytics tools to contractors for bid management
CAD/BIM SmartBIM Provides building information modeling software solutions such as content services, ecoScorecard, library, and virtual showroom solutions
CRM Cosential Provides cloud-based CRM and proposal automation tools to the construction industry
Prequalification SmartBid Provides construction bid management software that also has a prequal component to help general contractors select subcontractors
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 9
Construction Can Catch Up with Total Economic Productivity by Taking Action in Seven Areas Several innovative companies and regions are addressing current market failures and improving productivity,
as well as cost and schedule reliability, within the construction industry. With action and widespread adoption
of these seven areas, the sector’s productivity could be 50 to 60 percent higher.
Cascading effect
Source: Reinventing Construction: A Route to Higher Productivity, McKinsey, February 2017
Despite technology at 15%, its true impact is larger as its effect is amplified on other categories as it acts as an enabler to all the categories helping improve productivity across the entire sector
United States Construction Industry Outlook The construction industry is forecasted to grow at 5.0% in 2018 (nominal dollars) in the United States vs. 4.0%
in 2017, which ended on a high note for the construction industry with both construction spending and
workforce witnessing positive year-on-year growth. Construction spending in the United States stood at $1.25
trillion in 2017, up by 2.6% as compared to 2016.1
1 US Construction Update – Year End 2017, JLL
Enabler
8-9
8-10
7-8
6-10
14-15
48-60
50
5-7
Cost Savings %
6-7
7-10
3-5
4-5
4-6
3-5
27-38
Regulation
Collaboration and contracting
Design and engineering
Procurement and supply-chain management
On-site execution
Technology
Capability building
Cumulative impact
Gap to total economy productivity
Potential global productivity improvement from implementation of bets practices Impact on Productivity (%)
Exte
rn
al
Fo
rce
s
Ind
us
try
dyn
a
mic
s
Fir
m-le
vel
op
era
tio
na
l fa
cto
rs
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 10
Construction Growth Forecast by Segment in the U.S.
Construction Spending in the U.S
$1.25 trillion 2017 U.S. construction spending
+2.6% Over 2016 spending total
Source: US Construction Update – Year End 2017, JLL
$0
$100,000
$200,000
$300,000
$400,000
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
U.S. Construction Spending by Quarter ($ millions)
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
© Consensus
2017 2018
Total 4% 5%
Residential 6% 6%
Single Family 9% 9%
Multi Family 1% -1%
Non-Residential 2% 4%
Commercial 1% 2%
Hotels 8% -2%
Office 5% 6%
Retail -8% 1%
Education 5% 6%
Healthcare 1% 5%
Public Buildings 2% 6%
Industrial 0% 4%
Other Non-Residential 2% 0%
Non-Building 4% 4%
Roads and Bridges 5% 6%
Infrastructure 3% 3%
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 11
AI & Automation Overview
Emerging and established technology provides tools and software such as 3D laser scanning, embedded
sensors, drones, big data analysis, business information modelling, and mobile applications to the construction
industry, enabling companies to plan, design, and construct more efficiently and accurately, and reduce
construction costs. With projects growing in size and complexity, adoption of technological
advancements is necessary to improve the productivity and automation in the construction sector. The
construction industry as a whole is lagging the broader economy when it comes to AI and automation
adoption spending.
Source: Technology in the Construction Industry, eSUB
AI Adoption Across Industries
Source: McKinsey Global Institute AI Adoption and Use Survey (2016)
(1) Average estimated % change in AI spending, next 3 years, weighted by firm size
(2) % of firms adopting one or more AI technology at scale or in a core part of their business, weighted by firm size
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
Leading Sectors Financial Services
Falling behind Construction
Education Consumer packaged goods
Professional Services Retail
Media and entertainment
Energy and resources
Automotive and assembly
Health care Travel and tourism
Transportation and logistics
High tech and telecommunications
Current AI adoption2
Fu
ture
AI
de
ma
nd
tra
jec
tory
1
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 12
The lifecycle of construction tech investing trends can clearly be seen in the chart below. Document
management is a category that has been heavily funded over the last two decades and there are entrenched,
large competitors who are winning the market and have led on innovation. From an early stage perspective,
there are less opportunities and the data support this conclusion. Performance dashboard, on the other hand,
is a very interesting category from an early stage perspective. As can be seen from the data most the companies
solving this problem have raised capital in the last five years, and it is an area we are seeing a lot of early stage
opportunities.
Source: The new age of engineering and construction technology, McKinsey (July 2017
Largest Smallest
Number of companies
invested
Cluster and use case Number of investments
Total amount invested
% of companies founded within
last 5 years developing tools
Digital collaboration
Design management
Document management
Contract management
Performance dashboard
On-site execution
Quality control
Safety
Field productivity
Back-office
Equipment management
Operations and management
Scheduling
Materials management
Preconstruction
Enterprise-resource-planning system
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 13
Construction Technologies across Construction Lifecycle The technologies within the construction ecosystem, as described below are constantly changing. Each new
adoption or data innovation enhances other parts of the ecosystem and the technology, as a result, is evolving
on an everyday basis.
Digital Design : Assist with document control and integration as design progresses from sketches to construction
documents
Preconstruction
Estimating: Automate
and improve the
accuracy of bid
estimates
Construction
relationship
management: Provide
dashboard for business-
development pipeline
Market Intelligence:
Gather and analyze
Information gathering from
past projects and
competitor performance
Marketplace: Create a
platform for stakeholders
to prequalify, evaluate,
and select partners
Construction
Design
management
Visualize drawings
and 3-D models
on site, on
mobile
platforms
Update blueprints
in the field with
mark-ups,
annotations,
and hyperlinks
Scheduling
Create, assign, and
prioritize tasks in
real time
Track progress online
Immediately deliver
work plan and
schedule to all
schedule to all
workers
Materials
management
Identify, track,
and locate
materials
across the
supply chain
Field
productivity
Track crew
deployment in
real time
Manage project
staffing across
skilled trades
Track on-site
productivity at
a trade and
worker level
Equipment
management
Track and manage
construction
equipment fleet
Quality control
Inspect remote
sites through
pictures and
tags shared
through app
Update and track
live punch lists
across projects
to expedite
project closure
Contract
management
Update and track
contract
compliance
checklist
Update records for all
client and
contractor
communication
regarding contract
terms
Track vendor
prequalification and
liens and manage
payments
Performance
dashboard
Monitor projects
progress and
performance
Provide
automated
dashboards
created from
field data
Generate
manpower
updates and
view past
reports on
handheld
devices
Document
management
Upload and
distribute
documents
Search all projects
across sites
Share information
across sites
Safety
Track and report
safety incidents
across the job
site
Alert workers on
safety
procedures and
provide tips live
Enterprise-resource-planning systems
Operations and Management
Work-order
Management
Remote monitoring of
building systems
Predictive
analytics for
system
management
Mid to small
project
management
Asset management
with an ongoing
record of facility
performance
Source: The New Age of Construction Technology, McKinsey, July 2017
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 14
According to a survey done by JBKnowledge, the respondents – which included professionals from firms such
as architectural/engineering/design firms, construction service providers, construction technology providers, as
well as design build general contractors, sub-contractors, general contractors/construction managers –
indicated the workflows that are most dependent on software are accounting (85%), estimating (60%), project
management (50%) and scheduling (50%).2 Interestingly, the respondents also noted that the same
workflows are still highly dependent on spreadsheets, indicating a lack of capable AI built into these software
solutions.
Workflow Dependent on Spread Sheets
Workflow Dependent on Software
Source: Annual Construction Technology Report, 2017, JBKnowledge
2 Annual Construction Technology Report, 2017, JBKnowledge
85.4%
60.4%
56.5%
49.2%
45.2%
45%
33.6%
25.1%
12.3%
2%
2.7%
Accounting
Estimating
Project Management
Project Scheduling
CAD/BIM
Takeoff
Bid Management
Client Relationship Management
Prequalification
None
Other
71%
58.7%
46.1%
43.3%
33.3%
29.8%
29%
18.9%
17.4%
13.5%
7.3%
5.6%
2.4%
Estimating
Accounting
Project Management
Bid Management
Takeoff
Project Scheduling
Tracking data/ Performance Metrics
Field Data collection
Prequalification
Client Relationship Management
CAD/BIM
None
Other
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 15
Base10 believes there are five key technological trends that can further help the construction industry
unlock its growth potential – higher-definition surveying and geolocation, 5D building information
modelling, digital collaboration and mobility, internet of things, and future-proof design and
construction.
Five Trends Will Shape the Automation of Construction and Capital Projects
Source: Imagining Constructions Digital Future, McKinsey, June 2016
5 Future-proof design and construction Designing with materials and methods of the future
Digital construction organization Developing next
generation of digital-native leaders to deliver
projects of the future
4 The Internet of Things and advanced analytics Intelligent asset management and decision making
3 Digital collaboration and mobility Moving to paperless projects, from the office to the workforce
2 Next-generating 5-D building information modelling Design platform for the future
1 Higher-definition surveying and geolocation Rapid digital mapping and estimating
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 16
HD Surveying and Geolocation Inconsistencies between actual ground conditions and estimates often result in last minute changes to the
project space and design, which leads to increased project costs and construction delays. New techniques that
integrate HD photography, 3-D laser scanning, and geographic information systems can significantly improve
accuracy and speed. These advances are enabled by pre-existing technologies, including drone and
unmanned-aerial-vehicles (UAV), and light-detection-and-ranging (LIDAR) technology, which provide high-
quality 3-D images that can be integrated with project-planning tools, such as BIM.
LIDAR represents an evolution is surveying; added mobility from drones and handheld technology is a
breakthrough
Overview of Technology Commonly Used in Site Surveys
Source: Imagining Constructions Digital Future, McKinsey, June 2016
While LIDAR has existed for some time, there has been a breakthrough in its use via drones/unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs) and handheld platforms:
• Handheld 3-D laser scanners
• Mounted on mobile platforms
• Some lidar systems are now under 10kg and can be deployed with drones/UAVs
LIDAR, when used in conjunction with ground-penetrating radar, magnetometers, and other equipment,
provides both under and above ground 3D images of project sites with more efficiency and reduces
discrepancies in the surveys. For example, during a survey of river sites for mini-hydropower plants in Southeast
Asia, surveyors used LIDAR maps to provide general terrain information and drone-mounted high-definition
cameras to focus on specific areas. Given the growing interest of companies in this space, Base10 is identified
Veerum, a digital twin technology solution, as a potential investment candidate. Veerum helps companies
collect data using drones and aerial imagery, and provides AI powered insights by creating a digital
replica of the project, thereby eliminating the need for a survey crew and automating the monitoring of
industrial construction sites. It also uses laser scanners to map a project site down to the millimeter, allowing
Electronic distance measurement GPS Photogrammetry Light detection and ranging
(lidar)
• Most commonly
deployed
• Requires on-site
personnel
• Best used for on-
site rechecks prior
to work
• Use GPS
coordinates
• Ineffective when
blocked (eg, by tall
buildings or clouds)
• Best used when
there’s a need for
high accuracy in
small open sites
• Uses high-
resolution images
• Requires
postprocessing time
to convert to usable
data
• Best used when
there’s a need for
high accuracy in
large sites
• Uses optical lasers
to detect thousands
of point per second,
with native 3-D
output
• May have issues
with some terrain,
such as steep
slopes
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 17
project managers to accurately build offsite and construct onsite, saving time and money while reducing the
chance of project delays.
5-D Building Information Modeling Similar to the way computer-aided 3D modeling transformed the building of aircraft and helped improve
sector productivity by up to ten times, Base10 believes 5D BIM could have similar effects and help
automate many processes in the construction industry. While the construction industry currently relies
on on-prem software tools, owners and contractors often use different platforms that do not sync with one
another. This means there is no single source that provides a dynamic view of project design, cost, and
schedule, allowing for delays and errors to go unchecked.
• 5D BIM is a five-dimensional representation of the physical and functional characteristics of any project that
takes into account the cost and schedule of the project, along with the standard spatial design parameters
in 3D.
• It includes details such as geometry, specifications, aesthetics, thermal, and acoustic properties, enabling
owners and contractors to identify, analyze, and record the impact of changes on project costs and
scheduling.
• This helps the parties involved to identify risks and complexities earlier and make better decisions by
avoiding any last minute surprises that could increase the project scope.
• Various studies have shown that construction companies that use BIM report higher efficiencies and
increased cost savings.
• Many governments in countries such as Britain, Finland and Singapore have made it mandatory for
construction companies to use BIM for public infrastructure projects, given the significant benefits to the
speed of execution of projects and keeping project costs under check.
Digital Collaboration and Mobility The construction industry still primarily relies on paper for blueprints, design drawings, procurement
and supply-chain orders, equipment logs, daily progress reports, and punch lists. Due to the lack of
digitization, there is a gap in data sharing between the stakeholder which creates inefficiencies. The use of
paper also makes it difficult to capture and analyze data, leaving a major chunk of important data uncaptured.
The capturing of historical data plays an important role in performance analytics that can lead to better
outcomes, risk management, and automation possibilities. Owners and contractors are beginning to
digitize their project-management work-flows offering digital-collaboration and field-mobility solutions.
• Digitizing workflows has already shown significant benefits in the retail and manufacturing industries.
• Even in the construction industry, digitizing workflows has shown significant improvements in terms of
efficiency and cost savings. For instance, in an American tunnel project with almost 600 vendors, the
contractor developed a single platform solution for bidding, tendering, and contract management. This saved
more than 20 hours of staff time per week, cut down the time to generate reports by 75%, and expedited
document submission by 90%.
• Crew mobility solutions have also proved to have a positive effect on productivity by enabling central planning
teams and on-site construction teams to connect and share information about progress in real time. The
availability of low-cost mobile connectivity via tablets and handheld devices, has resulted in a new generation
of “mobile first” cloud-based crew-mobility apps that can be deployed even at remote construction sites and
provide real-time updates. These are commercially viable for contractors and project owners of all sizes.
Given the aforementioned benefits, the digital collaboration and mobility solutions segment has emerged as
one of the key sub-sectors for construction technology startups and has attracted approximately 60% of all
venture funding in the construction technology sector. Accordingly, Base10 has looked at several
companies in this segment such as Raken, BuilderTREND, and Fieldwire. BuilderTREND provides a
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 18
construction management software that provides real-time access to construction scheduling, change orders,
documents, and blueprints to the stakeholders involved in the project. Fieldwire provides a mobile application
for contractors on the field and provides solutions such as task management scheduling, punch list inspection,
and plan viewing.
Internet of Things and Advanced Analytics As production sites get denser in terms of number of people, available construction equipment, and the amount
of work going on at the same time, they generate vast amount of data, a majority of which is not captured.
The Internet of Things (IoT), which has already seen deployment across sectors, uses sensors and wireless-
enabled equipment, and connects various assets. The technology solution would allow construction machinery,
equipment, materials, structures, and even formwork to transmit data to a central data platform at a construction
site, capturing performance data based on specified parameters. Sensors, near-field-communication (NFC)
devices, and other technologies can help monitor the productivity and reliability of both staff and assets. There
are several potential uses:
• Equipment monitoring and repair: Advanced sensors would enable the machines at the construction site
to detect and communicate maintenance requirements, send automated alerts for preventive maintenance,
and compile usage and maintenance data.
• Inventory management and ordering: Connected systems can keep stock of the inventory and use the
historical trends to forecast and alert site managers when stock is running short and when orders need to
be made. NFC tagging and tracking of materials can also pinpoint their location and movement and help
reconcile physical and electronic inventory. Veerum is currently tackling this problem with continuous
aerial drone flights.
• Quality assessment: Using vibration sensors at construction sites enables the workers to test the strength
and reliability of a structure during the construction stage. Workers can detect deficiencies in the structure
using data from the sensors and make the requisite changes.
• Energy efficiency: Sensors that monitor the conditions around a construction site and fuel consumption for
assets and equipment can foster on-site energy efficiency, enabling companies to adhere to strict
environmental regulations.
• Safety: Wearable bands can send alerts if workers on the site are in restricted areas or if a vehicle or asset
is stationary or non-operational for a given window of time during shift hours.
In addition to the above opportunities, the Internet of Things will also enable companies to capture data that
would have otherwise remained uncaptured. The insights gained through the adoption of advanced analytics in
construction projects can help to improve efficiency, timelines, and risk management.
For example, advanced analytics solutions have helped a major infrastructure project in London save time and
capital when project managers worked with a data-analytics company to produce a web-based adaptive-
instrumentation-and-monitoring system. The system absorbed field-sensor data, construction-progress data,
and workforce and vehicle movements. Statistical analysis based on this information helped project teams
detect anomalies and identify potential risks—critical information for a dense and historically sensitive city like
London.
There are a number of startups that have ventured into this space including; Rhumbix, a mobile platform for
construction field supervision to ensure crews have the materials, tools, equipment, and approved drawings to
complete the day’s work; Vernox Labs, a platform to analyze data from construction projects; Maana, a startup
providing big data analytics solutions across industries such as industrial, and oil and gas; C3 Energy, a cloud-
based suite of pre-built applications that offer big data, artificial intelligence, and IoT applications; and Cold
Bore Technologies, a data acquisition and digital twin solutions provider. Another startup, Built Robotics, has
taken the sensors from autonomous vehicles and retrofit them into construction equipment, and developed of
suite of autonomous software to manage the equipment. All these startups are helping to automate various
processes in the industry.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 19
Future-Proof Design and Construction New building materials, such as self-healing concrete, aerogels, and nanomaterials, as well as new and
innovative construction approaches like 3-D printing and preassembled modules, can lower costs and speed
up construction while improving quality and safety. Building materials is a $1 trillion global industry, and often
materials account for more than half of the total cost of projects. Traditional materials such as concrete, cement,
and asphalt make up most of this demand. But new and better construction materials are also required due to
several trends:
• Green construction: There is an immense push to adopt materials and technologies with lower carbon
footprints.
• Cost efficiency: Given substantial cost pressures, there is a need for structural change in the choice of
materials, in addition to incremental lean efforts.
• Supply-chain agility: Transporting heavy materials and equipment has massive implications on supply
chain costs and time, especially because many new projects are located in remote or dense areas.
• Improved durability and strength: With capital costs rising and scarcity of land in many markets, owners
are insisting that projects have longer commercial lives.
• Off-site construction: Assembling lighter, easier-to-handle materials off-site can improve project efficiency,
address on-site space constraints, and create the conditions for crews to improve their skills.
A number of advancements have already been made in the past few decades in developing advanced
construction materials. Some of the new materials used in construction include:
• Self-healing concrete: Self-healing concrete uses bacteria as a healing agent to close cracks on concrete
and is currently at the proof-of-concept stage.
• Concrete canvas: Concrete canvas is formed by adding water to a layer of concrete cloth and then allowing
it to set. It is typically used for drains, channels, and passages, and is now available commercially.
• Topmix permeable: Topmix permeable is a cement alternative that can absorb 4,000 liters of water a minute
and is currently in the early-adoption stage.
• Aerogel: Aerogel is a super-transparent, super-insulating material that is 99.9% air.
• Nanomaterials: Nanomaterials are super-strong, ultra-lightweight materials that may eventually be a
substitute for steel reinforcement in structures and foundations, though they are still in the research stage.
Some of these materials could redefine how projects are conceptualized, designed, and executed. Using these
advanced materials along with new construction techniques such as 3D printing, pre-assembled and pre-
fabricated structures, and robot-assembled construction, would lead to tremendous cost-savings and increased
efficiency. However, adoption has been slow due to a lack of awareness and familiarity within the design and
engineering community, a limited supply chain and lack of availability at scale, and risk aversion among project
owners and contractors.
For example, despite being available for more than 30 years, ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) only gained
widespread adoption after it was used to build part of the aquatic building for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
ETFE weighs less than 1% of an equivalent glass panel and costs 24% to 70% less to install.
In addition to the technologies related to BIM, AR/VR, and data analytics, start-ups are also building new
technologies such as Exoskeletons that enable workers to perform difficult tasks using heavy equipment for
longer periods of time with less physical exertion. These wearable suits use motors, braces, and levers to
increase the user’s strength. Despite the fact that this technology is still in its nascent stages, a number
of start-ups such as Ekso Bionics and SuitX are operating in this space. These companies offer light-
weight designs of exterior scaffolding that can be used by workers in the construction and logistics industry.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 20
Exoskeletons offered by Ekso Bionics; Source: Wired
As per ABI Research analysis, the exoskeleton market is expected to cross $1 billion over the next 10 years,
with more than half of the revenue coming from labor intensive sectors such as construction, manufacturing,
and logistics.
Global Revenue from Exoskeleton Sales (Reported and Projected)
65.6
97.4
136.4
193.3
-
50.0
100.0
150.0
200.0
2015 2016 2017 2018
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 21
Base10 High Priority Sub-Sectors
Digital Twin Technology The total size of the digital twin technology (DTT) market stood at $1.8 billion in 2016 and is expected to
reach $15.7 billion by 2023, growing at a robust CAGR of 37.9%.3 The growth in the market will primarily be
driven by increasing adoption of IoT by industrial and manufacturing industries. According to the global
research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), digital twin technology is among the major technological
advancement in which the companies would invest $2.1 trillion by 2019.4 The use of technology in the
construction sector can lead to savings of up to $21.3 billion per year in North America.5 As per Base10
research, the potential market size for the digital twin technology in North America alone would be $6.3
billion.6
A digital twin is an exact digital replica of a physical asset or a process in the digital world. It is built using
cumulative, real-time data which creates a digital model of the object or a process, providing intriguing insights
on system performance leading to actions such as change in the design of a system or a process.
Accordingly, the technology enables companies to tackle physical issues by detecting them in the digital
model upfront and with a higher degree of accuracy, thereby enabling them to remove inefficiencies.
3 Digital Twin Market by End User and Geography, Coherent Market Insights 4 Leveraging Digital Twins To Breathe New Life Into Your Products And Services, Digitalist Magazine 5 Wall Street Research 6 Base10 Research; (Based on the assumption that construction companies are willing to invest 0.5% of the project size in the digital twin technology)
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 22
Manufacturing Process Digital Twin Model Source: Industry 4.0 and the digital twin, Deloitte
To better understand the applications of the digital twin technology in the construction industry, it is best to first
understand how a digital twin is created. The creation of a digital twin encompasses two main phases –
designing the digital twin and integration of the enabling technology that facilitates exchange of real-time data
between the physical asset and the digital model. The data collected by the sensors is used in collaboration
with the data collected from the ERP systems and CAD models that enable real-time updating of the data
used for analysis.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 23
Digital Twin Conceptual Architecture
Source: Industry 4.0 and the digital twin, Deloitte
The digital twin technology is currently in the early stages of adoption in the manufacturing industry and has
already generated a tangible return for its early adopters. It has enabled the companies to keep a track of the
events at a granular level. For example, a digital model of a jet engine enables engineers to examine the wear
and tear of the engine during the course of operations and helps them with design modifications to increase
the efficiency of the engine and also helps in predictive maintenance. Sight Machine, a Series B digital twin
technology startup that helps manufacturing companies in creating a digital twin of the manufacturing plant by
sourcing information through industrial cameras, sensors, automation systems, and other factory systems,
has already raised $53.9 million in funding. Another company, Inovx, provides inventory management
solutions using the digital twin technology to companies in sectors such as manufacturing, oil and gas, and
utilities. It has raised $2 million in venture funding till date. TADA Cognitive Solutions, a Seed stage startup
with $0.5 million in funding, provides a cloud-based analysis and digital twin creation solutions to the
manufacturing and supply chain industries. Another company that Base10 is looking at in this space is
onTarget, a Seed stage startup that enables companies to track the project visually and scheduling work by
using a digital replica of the project.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 24
Source: Advanced Imaging Algorithms in Digital Twin Reconstruction of Construction Sites, intellectsoft
Applications of Digital Twin Technology in Construction:
The possible applications of the technology in the construction space include:
• Automated Progress Monitoring: By creating the as-built structure of the building, companies can
track the progress of the projects and can also compare it to the BIM design model to check for any
deviations in the building and rectify the errors in construction. It also enables companies to track the
status of the project by checking the actual percentage of work completed as the measurements
provided by digital twins are more accurate than human estimation.
• As-built vs As-designed models: The digital twin technology enables companies to check for errors
in the construction by comparing the planned design and the as-built projects. This allows the
engineers to detect the errors/deviations in the construction of the project, make the required changes
to rectify the error, and ensure similar errors do not reoccur.
Source: Advanced Imaging Algorithms in Digital Twin Reconstruction of Construction Sites, intellectsoft
• Resource Planning and Logistics: Using a digital twin, the construction companies can avoid over-
allocation of resources and predict the requirements well in advance.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 25
• Safety Monitoring and Tracking of Workers: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, c.4,500
construction workers died on-site due to fatalities between 2013 and 2017 in the U.S., making
construction one of the most dangerous activities in the world. A digital twin allows the companies to
track workers’ movement and conditions in hazardous areas in real time. Tracking of employees also
allows companies to adhere to compliance regulations in countries where it is mandatory to track
construction workers at the site.
The digital twin technology, when integrated with the payment software system, enables companies to pay
contractors on a day-to-day basis and facilitates real-time tracking of construction inventory. The digital twin
technology has also reduced the costs of surveying crews on the site as surveying is now done using 3D-
scanning, LIDARs and UAVs/drones. By using digital twins, construction companies can eliminate costs
related to survey crews and realize significant cost savings, with additional benefits of easy tracking of the
status of the projects and inventory optimization.
Several start-ups have started offering digital twin solutions to the construction industry, including
Veerum, FINALCAD, and Cold Bore Technologies.
Construction Management Software Over the past few years, start-ups and tech companies have been creating software for the construction
industry that is changing the management of projects. The software includes collaboration, monitoring and
analytics tools amongst others that enable streamlining and optimization of construction operations. The
construction project management software market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.0% from $1.4 billion in
2016 to $1.6 billion in 2021, while the global project management software market and is expected to grow at
a CAGR of 9.3% to $6.1 billion between 2017 and 2025.
Global Construction Management Software Market Size Estimate (in $ mn)
Source: Transparency Market Research
According to Aconex’s 2016 survey of more than 70 US-based firms that handle projects ranging from under
$10.0 million to over $100.0 million:
• More than 40% report difficulty finding information, tracking issues, and holding subcontractors and
partners accountable.
1,360.0
1,580.0
1,000.0
1,600.0
2016 2021
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 26
• Nearly 60% are challenged by poor communication and collaboration between project owners,
contractors, and consultants.
• For over 33%, a lack of correct information leads to mistakes, delays, and rework that end up costing
them money.
Construction companies have been generating and handling large amounts of paperwork which is time-
consuming and subject to misplacement and errors. Digitization streamlines the entire documentation function
by enabling teams to generate submittals, RFIs, transmittals and other relevant documents; using their own
standardized templates and uploading them to a centralized cloud-based platform which results in better
management and ease of access through a virtual directory.
On the execution front, changes on-ground can be recorded in real-time on the platforms, enabling project
managers and all the other stakeholders to monitor the progress and adapt to new scenarios that come up
during construction. Through software, changes in plans can be communicated to all teams efficiently which
saves time and keeps all stakeholders well-informed.
Analytics tools using AI and machine learning provide managers with optimization solutions to organize
budgets and timelines which brings an increase in the overall efficiency of construction work. The tools also
facilitate risk management through the use of predictive analytics.
Construction management software provides benefits across multiple points in the project lifecycle, which is
estimated to save $215,700 annually in expenses for a customer.
Cost Savings achieved using Construction Management Software
Source: Procore Technologies Case Study
Among the industry players, Procore Technologies, who provides a cloud-based construction management
solutions, has emerged as a market leader. It provides solutions including a bidding platform with analytics to
evaluate vendors, a platform where drawings can be uploaded with overlays for comparison, collated emails
and meeting minutes, scheduling tools and document management tools for RFIs, submittals and transmittals.
BuilderTREND and Jonas Premier are close competitors of Procore in terms of industry leadership.
Companies such as BulldozAIR also provide a platform that uses images taken on-site to create a timeline to
track progress which can be viewed by all teams. The tools also enable generation of customized reports for
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
BID SOLICITATION
$2,160 48 hrs /year at $45/ hr
RFI PROCESSING
$6,750 150 hrs /year at $45/ hr
SUBMITTAL PROCESSING
$9,000 200 hrs /year at $45/ hr
CHANGE ORDERS
$10,800 144 hrs /year at $75/ hr
DRAWINGS AND DOCUMENTS
N OT SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION ON DRIVES
$3,240 72 hrs/year at $45/hr
PRE - CONSTRUCTION DRAWING MANAGEMENT
$3,600 80 hrs/year at $45/hr
DRAWING UPDATES
$9,180 204 hrs/year at $45/hr
DRAWING MARKUP/VERSION CONTROL
$21,600 288 hrs/year at $75/hr
PHOTO MANAGEMENT
$25,250 505 hrs/year at $50/hr
COLLABORATION
ACCESSING ACCOUNTING INFORMATION
$2,880 72 hrs /year at $40/ hr
PRE - CONSTRUCTION TO PM HAND - OFF
$6,400 64 hrs /year at $100/ hr
CALLING SUPERNTENDENTS
$35,640 792 hrs /year at $45/ hr
MANUALLY PROVIDING SUPER INFORMATION
$79,200 1584 hrs /year at $50/ hr
Total Savings: $215,700
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 27
tasks within the project. Another company, Newforma, provides algorithms that automatically index stored
data and establish patterns and relationships that can be used to put information into context when viewed by
different teams.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 28
Construction Technology Landscape
In the first half of 2017, there were at least 25 deals in the construction technology space with a combined
value of approximately $169 million. Start-ups are coming up across segments including field equipment
management, construction products marketplaces, mobile and cloud technologies, artificial intelligence and
robotics, augmented reality and virtual reality, and CAD software.
In terms of closed deals, the construction technology market is still at a nascent stage and has attracted good
investor interest over the years. 2015 was a record year for smart money VC investment in the construction
technology industry, with 15 deals worth approximately $414 million, in line with total VC funding of $425
million across 59 deals. The funding increase was driven in part by an increase in average deal size to mid-
and late-stage deals, as a result of multiple investment rounds for CAD software provider Onshape ($80M
Series D) and drone company 3D Robotics ($50M Series C), among others. However, smart money VC
funding in the industry witnessed a slowdown in 2016 with a total smart money investment of $143 million
across 9 deals. As of June 30 2017, smart money VCs had invested $143 million across 3 deals.
Base10 Priority Ranking of Startup Landscape When determining the construction technology startup landscape from Base10’s point of view, we initially
reviewed several hundred startups who could be categorized as construction technology startups. The list
below contains early stage, seed stage, and Series A startups of high interest to Base10 as well later stage
startups that are well positioned in the industry and have good investors and/or significant momentum. We
also concentrated on companies based in the US; however, there are several companies listed based outside
the US that we still have high interest in. Our priority ranking methodology is below:
The list follows below and is as of May 2018.
Pre-Series A stage startups in US or Canada and in an industry subsector of high interest to Base10
Base10 priority 2 startups
Base10 priority 3 startups
Base10 low / no priority startups
Base10 priority 1 startups
Series A stage startups in US or Canada in an industry subsector of high interest to Base10, or;
Pre-Series A stage startups outside of the US or Canada in an industry subsector of high interest
Seed or Series A stage companies in industry subsector of medium interest to Base10, or;
Series A stage startups outside of US or Canada in an industry subsector of high interest to Base10, or;
Series B and later startups, or;
Series A startups with >$20M raised, or;
Seed companies in subsectors of little interest.
May 2018
Company Industry Sub
Sector B 10
Priority Location Stage Funding Notable Investors Short Description
Pantera Global Technology
Construction Management Software
1 Arizona NA 0.3 NA Provides construction management software that enables file sharing, document management, contact management, messaging, reporting, and collaboration.
BusyBusy Construction Management Software
1 Saint George Seed NA Caterpillar Ventures Develops software to help with labor and equipment time tracking for construction companies.
Fibo Construction Management Software
1 Sunnyvale Seed 0.1 Y Combinator Provides mobile work tracking for construction teams.
CINX Construction Management Software
1 Littleton NA 0.5 NA Provides a cloud platform that helps to easily synchronize internal departments, systems, products as well as project participants.
Cloud Takeoff (dba STACK Construction Technologies)
Construction Management Software
1 Mason Seed 0.3 CincyTech Provides a cloud-based tool for contractors in commercial construction with the ability to share digital blueprint plans and collaborate in real time.
Bridgit Construction Management Software
1 Kitchener Seed VC II 3.7 Communitech Rev, FundersClub, Hyde Park
Provides a cloud-based mobile and web construction software enabling real-time collaboration.
BuilderTREND Solutions
Construction Management Software
1 Omaha Seed 0.1 NA Provides a web-based home builder software to optimize communication between the residential builders, their customers, vendors, and subcontractors.
BuildPay Construction Management Software
1 New York Angel 5.5 NA Provides a platform for online payments designed to ease payments in the construction sector.
Hyphen Solutions Construction Management Software
1 Texas NA NA Perella Weinberg Partners
Provides integrated home builder application for supply chain management, collaboration and scheduling solutions.
Raken Construction Management Software
1 Cardiff Seed 2.0 Eniac Ventures, Rincon, Spider Capital Partners
Provides construction management solutions such as daily reporting, sub-contractor reporting, and contractor reporting.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 30
Company Industry Sub
Sector B 10
Priority Location Stage Funding Notable Investors Short Description
Einsite Construction Management Software
1 San Francisco Seed NA KPCB Edge Provides building Internet-of-things technology for construction and mining industries.
Pillar Technologies Construction Management Software
1 New York Seed 4.0
1517 Fund, Rough Draft, Sam Altschuler, Sound, Techstars
Develops safety sensors for construction that notify the workers of breaches.
Cold Bore Technologies
Internet of Things
1 Calgary Accelerator/Incubator 8.4 Zone Startups Calgary, Business Instincts Group
Provides digital twin solutions and real-time access to frac data.
SKUR Internet of Things
1 Oakland Seed 2.0 William Ibbs, Rick DeGolia
Provides cloud-based SaaS construction analytics.
Reconstruct Data Analytics 1 Champaign Seed 2.4
Grand Angels, Harbor Street, Illinois Ventures, Serra,
Provides predictive computer vision data analytics for construction sites.
Veerum Internet of Things
1 Calgary Seed 3.9 Brick and Mortar, Blackhorn,
Provides digital twin solutions to construction and capital projects.
Buildcon Construction Management Software
2 Belgrade Seed 0.1 500 Accelerator Provides a construction management web and mobile app enabling communication between engineers and project managers.
ALICE Technologies Construction Management Software
2 San Francisco NA 6.7 NA Provides an automated BIM to provide optimized construction schedule industrial solutions.
Drawboard Construction Management Software
2 Melbourne Pre-Seed 0.1 Startmate Provides a full featured PDF annotation tool that allows engineers to edit and share documents digitally.
Bouw7 Construction Management Software
2 Dokkum Seed 0.0 Rockstart Accelerator
Provides a construction management software, which optimizes the administration, planning and project management of construction companies.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 31
Company Industry Sub
Sector B 10
Priority Location Stage Funding Notable Investors Short Description
BuildUp Technologies
Construction Management Software
2 Mountain View Series A 15.5 UpWest Labs Provides users with all the tools needed to help manage construction projects onsite from a smartphone, tablet or via the web.
BulldozAIR Construction Management Software
2 Paris Seed 0.2 Impact USA, Y Combinator
Provides a task management software for construction projects, simplifying the process of tracking construction issues across a large number of construction sites.
Construct Construction Management Software
2 Porto Alegre Angel NA Plug and Play Ventures
Provides a communication platform for teams on construction projects.
EIDA Solutions Construction Management Software
2 Dublin Incubator/Accelerator NA Adopt a Startup Programme
Provides construction management solutions such as document management, progress tracking, and BIM integration.
eSUB Construction Software
Construction Management Software
2 San Diego Series A 5.0 Mainsail Partners, Revolution
Provides mobile project management solutions such as project management, time card management, corporate management, resource management, and field works mobile app, and scheduling services.
Falcon Brick Construction Management Software
2 Bangalore Seed NA LetsVenture, Mumbai Angels
Provides end-to-end mobile based solutions for the real estate, construction and infrastructure industries.
Leansite Construction Management Software
2 Harju Seed 0.0 Startup Wise Guys Provides a web-based application for supporting construction site management and providing access to the project data.
Fieldwire Construction Management Software
2 San Francisco Series A 14.3
AngelPad, Bloomberg Beta, Sand Hill Angels, Trinity Ventures
Provides mobile applications for the contractors on the field with functionalities such as task management scheduling, punch list inspection, and plan viewing.
NoteVault Construction Management Software
2 San Diego NA NA West Partners Provides a cloud-based platform that enables field workers to capture rich detail at the project site in near real-time.
think project! International
Construction Management Software
2 Bayern NA NA TA Associates
Offers cloud solutions for cross-enterprise collaboration oriented towards building construction, civil engineering, industrial construction as well as plant engineering and construction projects.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 32
Company Industry Sub
Sector B 10
Priority Location Stage Funding Notable Investors Short Description
Vernox Labs Data Analytics 2 Berkeley Pre-Seed 0.1 Y Combinator Provides a platform to analyze data from construction projects.
DotProduct Design Technologies
2 Boston NA NA Intel Capital Provides three dimensional data technology capture solutions.
onTarget Design Technologies
2 New York Seed 0.3
Acceleprise, MetaProp, Unshackled Ventures
Provides a visual analytics platform to mitigate risks of cost overruns and time delays of construction industry.
Joist Construction Management Software
2 San Francisco NA NA Accomplice, Matrix Partners
Provides a mobile application for industrial contractors that allows contractors to make estimates, send invoices, manage projects, and record payments.
Cooper Gray Robotics
Robotics 2 Oakland NA NA NA Provides heavy equipment through innovative applications of electric drive and Smart Control systems.
BetterView Robotics 2 San Francisco Seed 3.6 500 Startups, Arena, Haystack, Metamorphic,
Provides aerial imagery and data analysis solutions.
Viloc Construction Management Software
2 Flemish Region NA NA KPN Provides software for tool tracking and automated tool management.
VeriTread Marketplace 2 Florida Seed 5.2 Sumitomo, Pinewell Capital
Provides a platform to build, manage, and optimize internal transportation operations designed to simplify and improve the heavy-haul transportation industry.
Viirt Marketplace 2 Omaha Seed 0.9 Dundee Venture Capital
Provides pricing estimates for roof replacements by using satellite imagery.
Work Today Marketplace 2 Santa Monica Seed 1.1 E-MERGE, GAN, Hone, Mucker Capital
Provides an online employment portal online for blue collar workers.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 33
Company Industry Sub
Sector B 10
Priority Location Stage Funding Notable Investors Short Description
Buildmetric Construction Management Software
2 Ottawa Series A NA L-SPARK Provides a deficiency management platform for home builders to minimize the financial risks associated with construction.
Biosite Systems Construction Management Software
2 West Midlands NA NA Mobeus Equity Partners
Provides biometric access control and workforce management systems.
Capital Construction Solutions
Construction Management Software
2 New Lenox NA NA Elmspring Accelerator
Provides a module-based knowledge sharing platform to mitigate risk in construction by tackling various specific friction points.
Pavia Systems Construction Management Software
2 Seattle Series A 7.0 Eileses Capital Provides a suite of mobile applications which allows inspectors to capture data.
Xlsys Technologies (dba QwikSpec)
Construction Management Software
2 Bangalore Angel 0.8 Brigade Innovations Provides a cloud based field management mobile application for monitoring of field employees.
SignOnSite Construction Management Software
2 Canberra Seed 0.4 Sydney Angels Provides a site management platform that provides safety on construction sites.
Human Condition Safety
Construction Management Software
2 New York NA NA American International Group
Provides wearable devices, artificial intelligence, building information modeling, and cloud computing solutions.
GenieBelt Construction Management Software
3 Copenhagen Series A 7.1 Ditlev Bredahl, Giorgio Ponticelli, Solar
Provides solutions such as program management, project overviews, and instant reporting for managers.
Blue Ronin (dba Basestone)
Data Analytics 3 London Early Stage 6.0 Barclays Accelerator, Techstars
Provides a web-based drawing review application for the construction industry.
Rhumbix Data Analytics 3 San Francisco Series A 19.6 Brick & Mortar, Greylock, Spectrum 28, UJ Ventures
Provides a mobile platform for construction field supervision to ensure crews have the materials, tools, equipment, and approved drawings to complete the day’s work.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 34
Company Industry Sub
Sector B 10
Priority Location Stage Funding Notable Investors Short Description
Abvent Design Technologies
3 Paris NA NA Ardian Provides image and design solutions for CAD professionals in the fields of architecture and design, and photography.
IMERSO Design Technologies
3 Oslo Series A NA 500 Accelerator, StartupLab Catalyst
Provides 3D scanning software for smartphones for the construction industry.
Smartbim Design Technologies
3 Georgia NA NA NA Provides content services, ecoScorecard, library, and virtual showroom solutions.
Technical Sales International
Design Technologies
3 Rocklin NA NA NA Provides technology solutions and services such as building data managed content, autodesk software and job site solutions for the construction industry.
HoloBuilder Robotics 3 San Francisco Series A 2.3
Brick & Mortar, High-Tech Grunderfonds, Tandem
Provides AR and VR solutions to the construction industry.
InsiteVR Robotics 3 New York Seed 0.1
CyberAgent, Greg Castle, GVR, Ralph Gootee, Rothenberg, Tracy Young, Y Combinator
Provides AR/VR solutions that help architects and 3D designers to create immersive virtual reality experiences.
IrisVR Robotics 3 New York Series A 9.8
Azure Capital, Emergence Capital, Morningside, Techstars
Provides solutions that enable 3D designers, visualize, share and creates 3D models using virtual reality.
Sensopia – MagicPlan
Robotics 3 Montreal Series A 1.2 Normandy, Partech, Tekton
Provides an application used for making floor plans.
Scope AR Robotics 3 San Francisco Seed 2.0 New Stack, Susa, Y Combinator
Provides augmented reality smart instructions and live support video calling solutions.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 35
Company Industry Sub
Sector B 10
Priority Location Stage Funding Notable Investors Short Description
CBOT Robotics 3 Ostergotland Series A 0.4 ALMI, Almi Invest, LiU Invest
Provides automation solutions in the construction industry that enables companies to follow frame of reference tiles for tile filling and ensures smooth and unruffled placements.
Construction Robotics
Robotics 3 New York Angel 1.2 NA Manufactures robotics and automation equipment intended to automate construction process.
AirZaar Robotics 3 Missouri Seed 0.4
Missouri Technology Corporation, Quake Capital
Provides image-processing and visual intelligence for mining, construction and infrastructure clients.
Unearth Technologies
Robotics 3 Seattle Series A 4.3 John Boswell, John Case
Provides cloud-based project planning, project management and project completion solutions.
Dozr Marketplace 3 Ontario Seed 1.9 Communitech Rev, FairVentures
Provides a platform for equipment renting and leasing.
Getable Marketplace 3 San Francisco Series A 8.2
Amicus Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, , Lowercase Capital
Provides a free app for contractors to procure, manage, and pay for equipment rentals.
Kwipped Marketplace 3 North Carolina Series A 1.3 Inception Micro Angel Fund, VentureSouth
Provides an online rental marketplace where businesses can locate and rent the equipment from a global network of the company's suppliers.
Machinio Marketplace 3 Chicago Series A 4.4
Elevation Partners, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator
Provides an online search portal for buying and selling new and used industrial equipment and machinery.
Con-Conn Marketplace 3 Massachusetts Series A 0.6 NA Provides a web-based marketplace for the horizontal construction industry.
BuildZoom Marketplace 3 San Francisco Series A 14.2 8VC, Beenos, Cota Capital, Formation 8
Provides service designed to connect homeowners with licensed contractors.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 36
Company Industry Sub
Sector B 10
Priority Location Stage Funding Notable Investors Short Description
Architizer Marketplace 3 New York Series A 15.0
Alessandro Piol, AlphaPrime, August Capital, Gaspar Global
Provides a platform that connects architects to a network of peers and clients.
Ackcio Construction Management Software
3 Singapore Series A NA Entrepreneur First Provides real-time wireless monitoring solutions for the construction industry.
BuildingConnected Construction Management Software
Low/None San Francisco Series B 30.8 Bee Partners, Brick & Mortar, Crosslink Capital
Provides bid management solutions and connects construction professionals across the US.
Fieldly Construction Management Software
Low/None Skane Series B 2.1 K5 Advisors, Lund University
Provides a web based management system for the office combined with a fully integrated mobile app for the field.
Ipsum Construction Management Software
Low/None Santiago Series B 1.0 Wayra Provides an online productivity management platform.
Newforma Construction Management Software
Low/None New Hampshire Series D 30.3 Borealis, Kodiak Venture, North Bridge
Provides project information management software as well as consulting and implementation services, instructor led training, and support services.
PlanGrid Construction Management Software
Low/None San Francisco Series B 66.0
500 Startups, Base Ventures, Founders Fund, Northgate Capital, Sequoia Capital
Provides a mobile application for the construction industry that allows the construction workers to store, view, track, and communicate with construction blueprints on the mobile device.
Procore Technologies
Construction Management Software
Low/None Carpinteria Series F 182.2
Bessemer, Hamilton BioVentures, ICONIQ, Lead Edge Capital,
Provides Procore Construction OS which connects people, applications, and devices through a unified platform that helps construction firms manage risk.
Uptake Technologies
Data Analytics Low/None Chicago Series D 202.0
Revolution, Caterpillar, GreatPoint, Lightbank,
Provides predictive analytics platform for the construction industry.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 37
Company Industry Sub
Sector B 10
Priority Location Stage Funding Notable Investors Short Description
Flux Factory Design Technologies
Low/None San Francisco Series B 68.2
Andreessen Horowitz, Borealis, Far East, Google Ventures
Provides cloud-based collaboration tools for architects, engineers, and contractors to exchange data and streamline complex design workflows.
Graitec Design Technologies
Low/None Biévres Series B 7.5 Innovation Capital, Isatis Capital
Provides integrated design and detailing software for professional training, project mentoring and consultancy, design and visualization.
Onshape Design Technologies
Low/None Masachusetts Series D 169.0
Andreessen Horowitz, Bolt Innovation, Commonwealth Capital
Provides cloud and mobile professional 3D CAD system.
Revizto (dba Vizerra) Design Technologies
Low/None Moscow Series B 15.0 Leader-Innovations, Solway Investment Group
Provides a digital platform that helps architects and graphic designers to build interactive 3D models.
Pandora Augmented & Virtual Reality Technologies
Robotics Low/None Istanbul NA NA Bluecap, Huseyin Emre Yilmaz
Provides an application that uses augmented reality to present three dimensional architectural models in physical environment.
ShilpMIS Technologies
Robotics Low/None Surat Angel NA IvyCamp Develops VR and AR based products that help users create interactive VR applications.
Endless Robotics Robotics Low/None Hyderabad Seed 0.1
Avishkar Accelerator, Singapore Angel Network
Provides automation solutions for applying paints and coatings in construction and industrial applications.
Dronomy Robotics Low/None Tel Aviv Series B 1.5
31Ventures, Battery Ventures, LocalGlobe, Lool Ventures, Oryzn Capital
Provides custom software for using drones that makes it easier and safer for people to fly drones autonomously and avoid obstacles, especially in cluttered outdoor environments.
Propeller Aerobotics Robotics Low/None New South Wales
Seed 3.8 Accel, Blackbird, Cicada Innovations, Startmate
Provides GPS equipment for drones, drones data processing and drone mapping software services.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 38
Company Industry Sub
Sector B 10
Priority Location Stage Funding Notable Investors Short Description
Skycatch Robotics Low/None San Francisco Series B 47.0
Autodesk Spark, Google Ventures, Industry Ventures, Qualcomm
Provides a drone platform for commercial logistics applications with real-time HD imagery and video capabilities.
DroneDeploy Robotics Low/None San Francisco Series B 31.0
AngelPad, Emergence, Scale Venture, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Provides a drone management platform helping contractors in data acquisition and uploading to the cloud.
Airware Robotics Low/None San Francisco Series C 68.2
Caterpillar, Intel Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, GE Ventures, Google Ventures
Provides an aerial information platform for the safe operation of commercial drones, providing hardware, software, and cloud services.
3D Robotics Robotics Low/None Berkely Series D 105.0
Atlantic Bridge, Autodesk Forge, Foundry Group, True Ventures, Qualcomm, Two Sigma
Designs and manufactures electronics and aerial vehicles.
SmartEquip Construction Management Software
Low/None Connecticut Series D 20.1 Connecticut Innovations
Provides software products for manufacturers, dealers and fleet owners across construction, industrial equipment and power tools industries.
Katerra Construction Management Software
Low/None Menlo Park Series D 1,078.4 DFJ Growth, Greenoaks, Khosla Ventures
Provides buildings design and project management services.
EquipmentShare Marketplace Low/None Missouri Series B 33.6
FundersClub, Insight Venture, Krillion Ventures, Romulus Capital
Provides a platform that combines insurance verification, background checks, payment processing, and an interface for lending and renting equipment.
Equippo Marketplace Low/None Zug Seed NA btov Partners Provides an online marketplace for used heavy equipment.
Buildkar Marketplace Low/None Bangalore Seed NA Mustafa Wajid, Umang Kumar
Operates as an online marketplace for building materials.
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 39
Company Industry Sub
Sector B 10
Priority Location Stage Funding Notable Investors Short Description
Builk Marketplace Low/None Bangkok NA 0.4 500 Accelerator, Project Planning Service
Provides an online platform for construction services such as construction materials.
OfBusiness Marketplace Low/None Gurgaon Series B 16.1 Matrix Partners, Zodius Capital
Provides an online platform for business-to-business commerce focusing on bulk material supply, credit, and logistics for small and medium enterprises in the manufacturing and construction sectors.
Swee10 (dba Sweeten)
Marketplace Low/None New York Series C 7.6 Gotham Gal, Great Oaks, Navitas Capital
Provides a platform that matches home and small business owners with renovation needs to architects, designers, and general contractors for projects.
Express Lien (dba Zlien)
Construction Management Software
Low/None New Orleans Series B 16.8
Abstraction Ventures, Altos Ventures, Brick & Mortar,
Provides a platform to manage notices and lien waivers across clients' projects.
BuildSafe Construction Management Software
Low/None Stockholm Series B 1.2 Almi Invest, MOOR, Venture Cup
Provides an application to monitor the security on construction projects.
FINALCAD Construction Management Software
Low/None Ile de France Series B 22.9 Aster Capital, CapHorn Invest, Serena Capital
Provides 3D BIM solutions to manage and plan projects.
Maana Internet of Things
Low/None Palo Alto Series C 73.3
Accenture Ventures, GE Ventures, Intel Capital
Provides big data analytics solutions across industries such as industrial, and oil and gas.
C3 Energy Internet of Things
Low/None Redwood City Series F 248.6
TPG Growth, Primera Capital, The Rise Fund, Breyer Capital, Makena
Provides a cloud-based suite of pre-built applications that offer big data, artificial intelligence, and IoT applications.
Kespry Robotics Low/None Menlo Park Series C 61.4
Cisco Investments, DCM Ventures, ABB Technology Ventures
Provides automated drone systems intended for aggregates, mining and construction industries.
May 2018
C O M PA R A B L E S
Comparable Companies
As of May 2018
Company Name Ticker Share Price $
Market Cap $M
EV $M Revenue $M (LTM)
Rev Growth
Gross Profit $M
(LTM) GPM
EBITDA $M (LTM)
EV / Rev EV / GP EV/EBITD
A
Construction Companies
Fluor Corp FLR 61.5 8,601.9 8,292.1 19,521.0 2.5% 618.5 3.2% 651.5 0.42x 13.4x 12.7x
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc
JEC 60.5 8,565.5 10,191.6 10,221.5 (8.6%) 1,840.1 18.0% 484.8 1.00x 5.5x 21.0x
Snc-Lavalin Group Inc SNC 44.0 7,723.5 9,659.5 7,196.2 12.5% 1,459.7 20.3% 631.3 1.34x 6.6x 15.3x
Aecom ACM 36.1 5,742.8 9,058.2 18,755.9 4.6% 649.9 3.5% 796.1 0.48x 13.9x 11.4x
Wsp Global Inc WSP 50.2 5,193.4 5,970.6 5,351.8 11.1% 4,129.5 77.2% 398.3 1.12x 1.4x 15.0x
Quanta Services Inc PWR 33.5 5,029.5 5,567.2 9,466.5 23.7% 1,241.9 13.1% 594.9 0.59x 4.5x 9.4x
Emcor Group Inc EME 80.6 4,709.2 4,552.7 7,687.0 1.8% 1,147.0 14.9% 419.1 0.59x 4.0x 10.9x
Mastec Inc MTZ 44.9 3,696.8 5,027.6 6,607.0 28.7% 861.7 13.0% 586.6 0.76x 5.8x 8.6x
Dycom Industries Inc DY 105.3 3,284.5 3,960.8 2,977.9 14.8% 608.0 20.4% 362.3 1.33x 6.5x 10.9x
Stantec Inc STN 24.8 2,826.2 3,227.8 2,634.4 12.6% 1,409.2 53.5% 280.7 1.23x 2.3x 11.5x
Topbuild Corp BLD 79.0 2,813.6 2,999.0 1,906.3 9.4% 461.1 24.2% 153.3 1.57x 6.5x 19.6x
Kbr Inc KBR 16.7 2,353.2 2,414.2 4,171.0 (2.3%) 342.0 8.2% 314.0 0.58x 7.1x 7.7x
Exponent Inc EXPO 85.8 2,231.2 2,052.5 360.1 10.4% 126.4 35.1% 85.3 5.70x NM 24.1x
Granite Construction Inc GVA 55.2 2,209.0 2,114.7 2,989.7 18.9% 314.9 10.5% 165.1 0.71x 6.7x 12.8x
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 41
Company Name Ticker Share Price $
Market Cap $M
EV $M Revenue $M (LTM)
Rev Growth
Gross Profit $M
(LTM) GPM
EBITDA $M (LTM)
EV / Rev EV / GP EV/EBITD
A
Installed Building Products IBP 57.5 1,810.7 2,077.9 1,132.9 31.3% 324.0 28.6% 129.4 1.83x 6.4x 16.1x
Min 1,810.7 2,052.5 360.1 (8.6%) 126.4 3.2% 85.3 0.42x 1.4x 7.7x
Median 3,696.8 4,552.7 5,351.8 12.5% 649.9 18.0% 398.3 1.00x 6.5x 12.7x
Average 4,452.7 5,144.4 6,732.0 14.0% 1,035.6 22.9% 403.5 1.28x 6.5x 13.8x
Max 8,601.9 10,191.6 19,521.0 31.3% 4,129.5 77.2% 796.1 5.70x 13.9x 24.1x
Company Name Ticker Share Price $
Market Cap $M
EV $M Revenue $M (LTM)
Rev Growth
Gross Profit $M
(LTM) GPM
EBITDA $M (LTM)
EV / Rev EV / GP EV/EBITD
A
Construction Technology Companies
Dassault Systemes Sa DSY 132.9 34,631.1 32,877.3 3,646.8 7.8% 3,111.4 85.3% 1,069.4 9.02x 10.6x NM
Autodesk Inc ADSK 129.2 28,203.6 28,275.6 2,056.6 1.3% 1,753.2 85.2% (400.7) NM NM NM
Ansys Inc ANSS 162.6 13,666.3 12,784.5 1,095.3 10.8% 945.1 86.3% 458.4 NM 13.5x NM
Trimble Inc TRMB 36.1 8,981.7 9,358.2 2,654.2 12.4% 1,392.6 52.5% 429.4 3.53x 6.7x 21.8x
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers RBA 33.0 3,545.4 4,102.4 610.5 7.8% 531.5 87.1% 166.5 6.72x 7.7x 24.6x
Rib Software Se RIB 25.4 1,310.4 1,167.9 122.3 12.9% 73.8 60.3% 45.7 9.55x NM NM
Skyline Corp SKY 26.0 217.8 203.7 233.7 11.7% 31.4 13.4% 9.2 0.87x 6.5x 22.2x
Bimobject Ab BIM 3.9 203.9 190.1 9.9 NM 8.6 86.5% (5.6) NM NM NM
Fastbrick Robotics Ltd FBR 0.1 157.5 126.2 0.5 NM NA NA (3.2) NM NA NM
Elecosoft Plc ELCO 0.8 65.4 64.0 25.8 6.8% 22.6 87.9% 4.8 2.48x 2.8x 13.4x
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 42
Company Name Ticker Share Price $
Market Cap $M
EV $M Revenue $M (LTM)
Rev Growth
Gross Profit $M
(LTM) GPM
EBITDA $M (LTM)
EV / Rev EV / GP EV/EBITD
A
Renoworks Software Inc RW 0.1 4.4 4.0 2.4 12.7% 1.7 70.2% (0.6) 1.69x 2.4x NM
Min 4.4 4.0 0.5 1.3% 1.7 13.4% (400.7) 0.87x 2.4x 13.4x
Median 1,310.4 1,167.9 233.7 10.8% 302.6 85.3% 9.2 3.53x 6.7x 22.0x
Average 8,271.6 8,104.9 950.7 9.4% 787.2 71.5% 161.2 4.84x 7.2x 20.5x
Max 34,631.1 32,877.3 3,646.8 12.9% 3,111.4 87.9% 1,069.4 9.55x 13.5x 24.6x
May 2018
Construction Technology Industry
Top 10 Construction Deals in 2018 YTD - As of May 2018
Announced Target Name Acquirer Name Status Deal Value $B
03/14/18 Abertis Infraestructuras Hochtief AG; Atlantia SpA; Abertis Infraestructuras
Pending 33.3
03/10/18 Zhongtian City Investment Guiyang Jinshiqi Industrial Investment Co. Ltd.
Pending 3.9
01/08/18 Lucid Energy Group II Goldman Sachs Capital Partners; Riverstone Investment Group
Pending 1.6
01/10/18 Primewaterview Holdings Nigeria Milost Global, Inc.; Isilo Capital Partners
Complete 1.1
03/23/18 Concession A25 Transurban Group Ltd. Pending 0.6
02/06/18 SandRidge Energy Midstates Petroleum Co., Inc. Pending 0.5
03/01/18 USI, Inc. TopBuild Corp. Pending 0.5
02/20/18 RSI Communities William Lyon Homes, Inc. Complete 0.5
02/14/18 Layne Christensen Co. Granite Construction, Inc. Pending 0.5
03/08/18 Hangzhou Shengyuan Real Estate Development Co.
Ningbo United Group Co., Ltd. Pending 0.4
Top 10 Construction Deals in 2017
Announced Target Name Acquirer Name Status Deal Value $B
10/30/17 CalAtlantic Group Lennar Corp. Complete 9.9
08/22/17 Joy City Property COFCO Property Co., Ltd. Pending 2.6
10/02/17 Medallion Gathering & Processing Global Infrastructure Management LLC
Complete 1.8
12/29/17 Hopewell Highway Infrastructure City of Shenzhen; Shenzhen Investment Holdings Co., Ltd.
Complete 1.3
10/26/17 Aecon Group Government of China; CCCC International Holding Ltd.
Pending 1.1
06/14/17 Beijing Huicheng Real Estate Development Co.
Beijing Zhende Real Estate Development Co. Ltd.
Pending 0.9
06/19/17 Lemminkäinen Oyj YIT Oyj Complete 0.9
08/02/17 The Miller Homes Group UK Bridgepoint Advisers Ltd. Complete 0.9
04/14/17 I&P Group Sdn.. S P Setia Bhd. Complete 0.8
03/22/17 Gainesville Renewable Energy Center Gainesville Regional Utilities; City of Gainesville (Florida)
Complete 0.8
May 2018
Top 10 Construction Deals in 2016
Announced Target Name Acquirer Name Status Deal Value $B
05/12/16 Nova Transportadora do Sudeste
Brookfield Asset Management, Inc.; Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP; GIC Pte Ltd.; CIC Capital Corp.; Nova Transportadora Do Sudeste SA
Complete 5.2
11/24/16 Shanghai Zhongxing (Group) Co. China Enterprise Co., Ltd. Pending 3.0
12/01/16 Xella International Lone Star Americas Acquisitions LLC;
Complete 2.2
09/18/16 Legend Holdings Corp. Sunac Real Estate Group Co., Ltd. Pending 2.1
10/11/16 Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co. Jiahua Eastern Holdings (Group) Co.
Pending 1.8
08/08/16 Investimentos e Participações em Infraestrutura
VINCI Concessions SAS; Vinci Highways SAS
Complete 1.6
10/13/16 D. Carnegie & Co. The Blackstone Group LP Pending 1.6
09/29/16 Wuxi Guolian Environment & Energy Group Co.
Wuxi Huaguang Boiler Co., Ltd. Complete 1.2
08/08/16 JPM EOC Opal LLC SM Energy Co. Complete 1.0
01/21/16 Sociedad Concesionaria Autopista Central
Inversora de Infraestructuras SL Complete 0.8
Top Construction Technology Deals in 2018 YTD
Announced Target Name Acquirer Name Status Deal Value $M
04/23/18 Viewpoint, Inc. Trimble, Inc. Pending 1,200.0
02/02/18 e-Builder, Inc. Trimble, Inc. Complete 500.0
01/11/18 Construction Systems Associates, Inc. Universal-mCloud Corp. Pending 4.5
02/19/18 FABIS Sales Solutions GmbH & Co. adesso insurance solutions GmbH Complete 1.9
01/17/18 Cosmo Engineering KK ITbook Co., Ltd. Complete 1.0
02/22/18 Archibank KK /Archicloud Bus/ SHARINGTECHNOLOGY.INC Pending 0.6
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 45
Top Construction Technology Deals in 2017
Announced Target Name Acquirer Name Status Deal Value $M
12/17/17 Aconex Oracle Pending 1,200.0
03/07/17 Tagetik Software SRL Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting Complete 317.9
07/06/17 Compact Power Equipment Centers The Home Depot Pending 265.0
10/26/17 Chalco Shandong Engineering Technology Co., Ltd.
Government of China; Aluminum Corp. of China; China Aluminum International Engineering Corp.
Pending 54.3
08/02/17 Beijing Dongjing Tianyuan Software Technology Co.
Beijing Taikong Panel Industry Corp.
Pending 23.1
08/29/17 Hangzhou Changyun Lu Yun Property Ltd.
Hangzhou Yunqi Cloud Data Ltd. Pending 21.0
11/10/17 Eque2 Lloyds Development Capital; Eque2 Ltd.
Complete 17.4
02/03/17 Habitissimo SL Homeserve International Ltd. Complete 16.1
11/15/17 Exactal Group RIB Software SE Pending 14.3
11/15/17 leafnet Co. PCI Holdings, Inc. Complete 11.9
Top Construction Technology Deals in 2016
Announced Target Name Acquirer Name Status Deal Value $M
11/14/16 ServiceMax GE Digital Energy, Inc.; GE Industrial Systems
Complete 915.0
08/29/16 IronPlanet Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Inc. Complete 777.1
10/31/16 iSqFt Roper Technologies, Inc. Complete 632.0
04/28/16 Textura Oracle Corp. Complete 616.0
03/17/16 Conject Holding Aconex Ltd. Complete 72.0
12/06/16 WeGoLook Crawford Innovative Ventures LLC Complete 36.1
01/12/16 Insigma Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Co.
Hangzhou Chengshang Technology Co.
Pending 19.6
11/16/16 EPA SYSTEM ERI Holdings Co., Ltd. Complete 1.8
11/04/16 AWS Cambodia AWS Cambodia Ltd. /Sakhun/ Complete 0.6
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 46
Research Process
Real Economy Research Process
High Impact Corporate Interviews
SENIOR DIRECTOR AT SUNCOR ENERGY (TSX: SU, $66B MARKET CAP)
Key Takeaways
• Digital Twin technology is a commodity, there are lots of companies that can collect construction site mapping
• He estimates survey crew costs them $3.6M / year per project. The DT company they use replaces this
cost.
▪ 10 ppl, 10 hours per day, 7 days/week, $100/hr = $3,640,000
Suncor
• Fully integrated energy company with upstream, midstream, and downstream ops
• Upstream is primarily focused on oil sands and that is their main money maker
Digital Twin
• Definitely a commodity, lots of companies can collect mapping of structure
• When you think of complexity of construction, what is valuable to them is analysis of data for more efficient
work execution
• Allows them to monitor inputs / inventory in real time (accurate) and in a format that lines up with their typical
work processes
• Have $300M of dirt, if you save 1% of that, it is huge
• Before they picked the DT company, talked to several other companies with drone capability but without data
capabilities
• Typically, would do rough guess on materials but now they can get accurate estimate
• Now they are in field and moving dirt from A to B, they do a digital twin every day/hour and can compare a
new DT to an older DT and actually calculate the volume moved
• Primary benefit is real time inventory picture
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 47
SENIOR DATA SCIENTIST AT CHEVRON (NYSE: CVX, $230B MARKET CAP)
Key Takeaways
• Scanning technology is a commodity but integrating the output into software systems of the end user is very
difficult. He would dig into their current integrations and strategy going forward
▪ Focus on CAD integrations. CAD comes in hundreds of different flavors and he doesn't think it is that
easy to just be integrated with all different versions. (focus on the software used by major EPCs - Bechtel,
KKR, Fluer, etc.)
▪ Also learn what other software sets they are integrating into (e.g. cost/schedule (Primavera) /project
management software - which would be relevant for quantity surveying)
• Believes DT companies would add the most value around inventory tracking for large projects and verifying
percentage of completion for each GC
▪ This is real value-add b/c right now it is done by surveying crews
▪ These crews are on the job site and ONLY report back the numbers, there is no visual
▪ If they can report numbers and visuals, this is a tangible improvement
• He is less familiar with the prefab uses but sees how it could be helpful
• Chevron, nor any of the other majors, would ever take something like Veerum in house. They want a third
party to do it for them
• Chevron is beginning to institute "Project Production Management" which emphasizes daily verification of
projects
▪ For every project, Chevron wants to establish a way to verify what people are reporting is true or not (this
sub bullet isn't quite right, but close enough for notes).
Project Production Management
• Moving to daily surveys
• Way to verify what people are reporting is true or not
• Nice complement, not a substitute
• Chevron does nothing themselves nor do any of the majors
• Integrations mots important things. All PMs care about
• Not ground breaking or tech changing but useful to PMs
• Data is the asset, has many different uses
SENIOR VDC ENGINEER AT AECOM (NYSE: ACM, $5b MARKET CAP)
Background
• Works for Aecom, build projects of all sizes, from LA Rams stadium, hospitals
• His role is VDC (virtual design construction group), support all the projects form virtual standpoint, get project
teams up to speed on technology on what they need to use
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 48
When did they first digital twin technologies a shot?
• Used system called multi-vista, it's a managed service operated by owner, do something similar but don't do
360 photos. That's been used on quite a few of projects in the past. This could be replacement for multi-
vista, could cut a lot of cost by manage it yourself, multi-vista is a managed service
• Don't always take progress photos w/ multi-vista/holobuilder. May not have expertise to do that on site for a
job
Value of 360 view?
• Much cheaper and you can manage it
• Spend 20m on Autodesk. Autodesk doesn't have Holobuilder functionality. Multi-vista is contracted through
owner so Aecom doesn't get cost #'s, etc.
Biggest value prop of BIM solutions?
• they virtually coordinate all the work going into the building before they go on-site. They were in a meeting
where they had 2 different trades arguing what was there vs. in model, but the previous week they ran the
photos from on-site (they were off-site) and they were able to give an answer right there from the photo and
move forward. If they didn't have that photo, they'd have to contact someone on-site to get measurement to
help answer the question
How hard is it to get someone on-site to take photos?
• Not difficult, so long as that person exists
• How long does it take? Depends on project size
• How often do they go through to take photo? Depends on project size and complexity
What other software tools to use?
• Autodesk, all their 360 products, revit, Autocad
• CMIC for project management
• For logging hours? Use 360 field
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER AT HENSEL PHELPS, ONE THE LARGEST GENERAL
CONTRACTORS IN THE US
Background
• Superintendent for Hensel Phelps top 25 GC, have offices in 8 locations in US, headquarters in CO. Andrew
is working on SF airport project, 1.2B project
Were they looking for 360 degree capture solution?
• Yes, they were so frustrated with the solutions out there, they tried building something internal. What else
did they look at? Looked at Plangrid but wasn't good for project documentation/issue tracking, multi-vista (all
they do is come out and take pictures for you, 0 value there), and 1 other company (like Autodesk but not
them)
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 49
• Multi-vista was originally amazing bc you could scan a picture and take dimensions from it. MV is higher
resolution than HB
• How do you schedule w MV? They force you into cadence (every Friday at 4pm), they do have on-call for
24 hr / 12 hr notice. It's worse than scheduling Verizon to come to your house. They tell you they can come
from 9-4pm, which is totally useless
• HB links photos to floorplan, no other software does that, works like how they think about building
Main use case?
• Documenting periodic process at SFO. Will send 17 field engineers (users) that will go out and record what
the area looks like, document. What they intend to use it for is for inwall or ceiling compliance, can document
it with minimal strain on project staff
How long will the pictures last?
• 10 years is the statute of limitations
• Since they started using it 1.5 years ago, they have active in 3 out of their 5 projects; they aren't using it in
2 projects
How much do they pay for it?
• Pay per sq. ft.
Founder Interviews
CEO OF FAST GROWING SERIES A DIGITAL TWIN STARTUP
Key Takeaways
• Digial twin companies main value propositions are:
▪ Ability to pay contractors on a daily basis from DT which tells them exactly how much of project is
completed. This happens automatically due to integrations with construction work flow payment software
▪ Ability to track construction inventory in real time
▪ Replacement of surveying crews
▪ From top to bottom is 4-6 month sales cycle from customer generation to close of contract
▪ Customization of each project is in the data capture. I.e. what data does the customer want on a daily
basis
Use case examples
• They are leveraging the data from the DT to solve problems
• Client 1
▪ Use satellite imagery, drones for some data capture
▪ They are seeing on their computer an exact replication of their facility but then the functionality part is
whether or not it is heat mapping or showing them where the project is not fitting reality
Prepared Mind Construction Technology May 2018 50
▪ Progress reporting on daily basis (are you 45% complete or 56% complete)
▪ Tracking volumes of all inventory
o If contractor says they have installed 42% but contractor says 48%
• Building integrations to pay contractors and to not try to replace things, just integrate into existing systems
• Primary project softwares are SAP and Oracle Primavera. Microsoft also has Microsoft Project. Person
investing in this round is a high up at Oracle. Exec at Oracle is investing
▪ Pay contractor based on percentage of completion on project
▪ Everyone can see it and it is calculated precisely
Value Prop to Customers
• Ability to reduce risk on cost and schedule around these big projects
• They bring truth and reality of project to track everything that is happening
• The problem on big projects is on global average they go over budget by 30%
• They replace costs
▪ Clear and linear they replace is cost associated with gathering info to measure these projects
CO-FOUNDER OF FAST GROWING GROWTH STAGE CONSTRUCTION TECH
STARTUP
Background
• 60% of construction budgets are over budget and over time - they enable better decision making to keep
budgets in line
Product
• Enable them to make better decisions by having the right planning tool, integrated with their master plan and
taking it down to the field.
• Allows their customers to integrate their 3D BIM models, and from there you can automate field work and
understand lean team
• That creates integration between master plan and field plan. They add ML that does recognition of scan of
the vision to compare plan vs. actual
• They can answer questions like: who is delaying your project, verify your invoices, how is weather impacting
your schedule, etc. this can be pushed back to master schedule so entire feedback loop is complete
• Initial focus is commercial construction. 200 projects actively using on target now