5 Contech Companies Raise $126M in Funding

Information technology startups that track suppliers, decarbonize cement, manage contracts and execute schedules have been able to raise cash even during commercial construction shows signs of softeningAND high interest rates continue to block projects.

Here are five companies that announced funding rounds in the past month.

Fortress

$85 million

San Jose, California-based cement decarbonization company Fortera has raised $85 million in a Series C funding round, the company announced. announced on August 20.

Fortera’s ReCarb process bolts onto existing cement plants and captures the industrial carbon dioxide emissions from traditional cement production, according to the release. It then converts the gas into mineral form to create ready-to-use, low-carbon cement.

The technology operates at significantly reduced kiln temperatures and is compatible with the integration of renewable energy sources, which the company says would further reduce emissions and enable carbon dioxide-free cement production.

With this financing, Fortera will be able to expand the implementation of its low-emission cement technology and build additional low-emission cement plants.

Stump tools

20 million dollars

New York-based AI platform Trunk Tools has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Redpoint Ventures with participation from Innovation Endeavors, which led the company’s seed round, according to Press release from August 20.

Trunk Tools is creating an AI-powered tool that contractors can use to track design documents and contracts. Builders can use the service to get immediate answers without leaving the jobsite through a chat-like interface on their smartphones called TrunkText. Contractors including Gilbane of Providence, Rhode Island, have used the service to manage large projects. Indeed, Gilbane we tracked almost 21,000 documents during the renovation of the Baird Center in Milwaukee.

In addition to the funding news, Trunk Tools also announced a new feature it calls Schedule Agent. The tool uses AI to connect project calendar activities and events to underlying, supporting documentation, according to the release.

Planner

$13.5 million

Pleasanton, California-based construction planning software Planera has raised $13.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Sierra Ventures, according to the company as of August 27.

The planner acts as a digital whiteboard that allows users to manipulate the master schedule in real time. Collaborators can view each other’s notes, files, and comments, as well as a change tracking system. California Engineering Contractors, also based in Pleasanton, used the solution as replacement for older Gannt systems.

With this funding, Planera will expand its product development scope and strengthen its sales and marketing efforts, Nitin Bhandari, co-founder and CEO of Planera, said in a press release.

Cocoon

$5.4 million

London-based materials decarbonization company Cocoon has raised $5.4 million in pre-seed funding, according to a press release from August 8 from the company. Wireframe Ventures, Celsius Industries, Gigascale Capital and SOSV participated as investors.

Cocoon technology solves an unintended problem related to the decarbonization of steel production.

Slag, a byproduct of traditional steel production, has long been used to reduce the amount of cement added to concrete. Demand for slag has grown because it acts as a green alternative to cement.

But as the steel industry transitioned from fossil-fuel-fired blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces, another problem emerged: The new e-slag from electric furnaces could not be used as a cement substitute, leading to critical shortages of the material that concrete producers rely on to reduce their carbon footprint.

According to a press release, Cocoon says its technology transforms e-slag into a nearly identical replacement for blast furnace slag.

The company says its modular technology — about the size of a shipping container — is highly scalable and integrates into the downstream stages of existing steelmaking processes without disrupting operations, requiring high capital expenditures or compromising safety.

The investment will expand the company’s engineering and science teams, accelerate commercialisation efforts and build an industrial laboratory and demonstration facility in the UK.

Stand

$2.3 million

New York-based supplier and contractor management platform Trestle has raised $2.3 million in pre-seed funding led by Lerer Hippeau, the company announced in a statement Press release from September 4.

Trestle’s central platform collects and combines key subcontractor and supplier information from internal and external systems, all in one place, according to the release. With this technology, builders can select partners, increase project transparency, provide real-time feedback on third-party project performance and mitigate risk before it impacts the bottom line.

The funding will help the company expand its software engineering team, said Victor Zhang, CEO and co-founder of Trestle, in a press release.