Notes from Build Tech : Innovation in Construction — Last week we launched the first in a series of in-depth discussions with industry experts in the Real Estate sector on what moved the needle for them. Hosted by Seedcamp, FUTURE:Property Tech, and sponsored by Concrete and its founding partners, Seedcamp, Starwood Capital, and FORA, the event was a sold-out success. Fearless moderator James Dearsley (and world-renowned bee keeper and dim-sum connoisseur) was joined on stage by Matt Gough (Mace Group), Simon Saint (Woods Bagot), and James Daniel (Skanska). “Driving gains in construction is all about people, the lifecycle, and digitisation of workflow”, Matt Gough, MACE The goal was to have a deep discussion with industry experts sharing their thoughts on what moved the needle for them. The feedback seemed quite positive at the end of the event, and I made and saw some meaningful connections being made over drinks. What’s the hot topic today in your office? “Modular Construction!” Worth noting that this was sated by Moderator James, and it’s worth further highlighting the disruption in this sector as Legal and General are traditionally known for Insurance and Investments not construction, so their shift in to this area is something to be noted. What about Big Changes do you expect coming down the pipe in the near term? What do you find personally most exciting? How should startups be thinking when they are trying to engage with you? In the realm of VR/AR? The general consensus was that “Yes,tech such as Hololens / Daqri is the future but its a while away from widespread adoptions. Heads-up display allows workers to have two hands free, and that’s a big benefit to safety, and even real-time collaboration. Imagine a site manager showing remote colleagues what he’s looking at, receiving instruction of what to adjust, and having those colleagues watch him do it.” What about Robots? — “Not really, too much bespoke work. A construction site is very different to a factory production line. But we do need to figure out what robots mean for construction. Drone-based visuals are great. Robotic arm printing of complex forms is also attractive. From a societal perspective we need to accept them first before we integrate them in to our industry as a side by side operation.” What are the fears in the Construction sector about new technology? If you’re a startup, clearly to engage with the big players on the scale of Mace, Skanska, and Woods Bagot, you’ll need to speak the language that they care about. As an investor, I found the insights really valuable, and you can be sure I’ll be taking them on board as we look for the next great Construction Tech company around the corner. Once again thanks to Concrete’s founding partners and please reach out if you’d like to find out about working with us : info@concretevc.com
The Build Tech: Innovation in Construction seminar brought together industry leader representatives; Simon Saint ( Skanska ), Matt Gough ( James Daniel ) and James Daniel ( Mace Group ) to discuss the pivotal role technology can play in construction. All agreed that modular construction was the current hot topic, but there was also a focus on improving productivity and efficiency through predictive maintenance, improved collaboration and supply chain mapping. The key challenge is how to integrate technology into an industry that is so diverse and the associated costs and risks of creating and maintaining new IT systems that can allow the sector to innovate and evolve.