13 startups selected for final stages of Construction Startup Competition 2026
Schaan, October 22, 2026 – Hilti Venture and its global industry partners have selected 13 startups to compete in the final two stages of the Construction Startup Competition 2026. Eight finalists will pitch in Las Vegas, United States, and five in Helsinki, Finland.
Now in its tenth edition, the competition received a record 798 applications from 62 countries, an increase of 40.3 percent compared with 2025. The selected startups offer solutions ranging from artificial intelligence and robotics to low-carbon materials, autonomous equipment and digital construction management.
Finalists for Las Vegas
The Americas Pitch Day will take place during the Trimble Dimensions User Conference and Offsite Expo in Las Vegas from November 9 to 11:
Universal Matter Inc. (“UMI”) (Canada): transforms carbon waste into sustainable, high-quality graphene dispersions that improve the strength of concrete while significantly reducing its GHG emissions, without increasing costs. Vertical: ClimateTech for the Built World.
Cyphra Autonomy (USA): builds PAL, an autonomous robot platform that moves materials, tools and debris across commercial construction sites, so skilled crews can stay on task. Vertical: Jobsite Productivity & Building Systems.
Teleworker AI (USA): the operating system for physical AI workforces, connecting robots, remote operators, AI agents and digital twins to automate site inspections, progress tracking, safety monitoring and facility operations. Vertical: Jobsite Productivity & Building Systems.
Civils.ai (Singapore): the AI risk platform for civil construction, estimating quantities from drawings with 90% less effort and using contract documents to manage risk, scope changes and claims. Vertical: Preconstruction Technologies.
Kestrel Labs (USA): transforms building regulations into structured, machine-readable intelligence that continuously checks BIM and CAD models, reducing project risk during design and before permit review. Vertical: Preconstruction Technologies.
Boon AI (USA): an AI estimating platform for general contractors and subcontractors that turns 2D PDF blueprints into structured, bid-ready takeoffs in minutes, cutting estimating time by 90%. Vertical: Preconstruction Technologies.
Spartan Industries (USA): builds OpenCROS, the open operating system that coordinates heterogeneous construction robot fleets from a single control room, with a live digital twin that catches errors before they happen. Vertical: Smart Buildings & Infrastructure.
Tag-N-Trac (USA): a full-stack IoT and AI-driven platform that brings real-time, end-to-end visibility and automation to global supply chains and logistics. Vertical: Smart Manufacturing & Logistics.
Finalists for Helsinki
The European Pitch Day will take place at RecoTech during Slush Week in Helsinki on November 17:
Bton Holding GmbH (Germany): develops Hybrid Suspension Mixing, a two-stage processing technology for industrial concrete production that enables lower-cost, low-carbon structural concrete with lower cement demand. Vertical: ClimateTech for the Built World.
Builder Assist (France): develops Surface Assist, the first multi-task robotic arm mounted on standard aerial lifts, automating strenuous tasks such as drilling, grinding, sanding and rendering on large surfaces. Vertical: Jobsite Productivity & Building Systems.
Bimefy (Belgium): an AI-driven construction intelligence platform that links site reality to 4D BIM, connecting planning, 360° captures, drone data and live cameras to track progress and detect deviations early. Vertical: Jobsite Productivity & Building Systems.
Sensible 4 (Finland): builds retrofit autonomy and site fleet management for heavy construction fleets, combining V2X, terrain-aware perception and physics-first simulation to automate real worksite operations. Vertical: Jobsite Productivity & Building Systems.
Robotiz3d Technology Ltd (United Kingdom): captures millimetre-accurate 3D road-condition data at traffic speed and uses AI to classify every crack and pothole, turning reactive road repair into predictive maintenance. Vertical: Smart Buildings & Infrastructure.
The finalists were selected by BCA Singapore, Caterpillar, Cemex Ventures, Dysruptek by Haskell, Ferrovial, Hilti Venture, Leonard by VINCI Group, NOVA by Saint-Gobain, Trimble and Zacua Ventures.
The two events follow the competition’s first 2026 Pitch Day in Singapore, where Civils.ai was named the APAC Gold Winner. The Las Vegas stage will award Gold, Silver and Bronze distinctions, while Helsinki will select the European Gold Winner.
About Construction Startup Competition
Launched in 2017, Construction Startup Competition has evolved into one of the construction industry’s leading global open innovation platforms. Across ten editions, startups from more than 80 countries have participated in the initiative, connecting emerging technologies with corporations, investors and strategic partners across the built environment.
The 2026 edition focuses on five strategic areas: Preconstruction Technologies; Jobsite Productivity & Building Systems; ClimateTech for the Built World; Smart Manufacturing & Logistics; and Smart Buildings & Infrastructure.
Through the Competition, its partners seek to identify technologies with the potential to address some of construction’s most pressing challenges while creating opportunities for pilots, commercial partnerships, investment and broader strategic collaboration.
Through its participation, Hilti Venture aims to identify technologies and business models that can help address key industry challenges and support the transformation of construction.