Two UK start-ups are among the 10 chosen by Vinci to receive support from its Catalyst programme.
Catalyst is run by Leonard, Vinci’s innovation arm, and supports mature companies in a position to start rolling out their products and services in partnership with the Vinci group.
The 10 firms will gain preferential access to Vinci executives, and Leonard will “be by their side from their first meeting to the time they sign a contract”.
The two UK businesses are:
- HyperTunnel, which is developing new methods of tunnelling that enable tunnels to be built faster, with less risk, and in a more economical and environmentally friendly way through the application of digital twins, robotics, 3D printing and digital underground surveying, supported by AI and VR; and
- Nodes & Links, which has developed an AI-based platform that automates project management.
Both firms featured on Cemex Ventures’ Top 50 ConTech Start-ups list last year, and were winners in Cemex Ventures’ Construction Start-up Competition 2021.
The other eight businesses chosen are:
- AMPD Energy from Hong Kong – a solution for powering construction equipment that combines storage and high-power capability, reducing dependence on diesel generators and large grid connections.
- Asystom from France – a universal predictive maintenance solution, suitable to any type of industrial machine (regardless of model or age). Scalable, non-intrusive, fully remotely managed, and easily integrated into existing infrastructures, the solution can monitor all components of any system to prevent failures and optimise productivity.
- Devisubox from France – industrialising a smart time-lapse capture service to promote construction with high resolution photos and reduce construction risks and costs with AI analysis of photos and IoT interactions in the field.
- Hovering Solutions from Spain – autonomous drones for the inspection of indoor and underground sites. The drone can fly without GPS, light or any radio signal, generating high-quality 3D models.
- Instagrid from Germany – portable 230V mains outlet with grid-like power to facilitate mobile workplaces.
- Kraaft from France – as “easy to use as WhatsApp and as powerful as Excel”, Kraaft is the first semi-structured messaging platform dedicated to field teams.
- RatedPower from Spain – a cloud-based software to carry out the design and engineering of utility-scale solar photovoltaic plants.
- Softsystems from France – innovative solutions based on AI to eliminate the risk of vehicle/pedestrian collisions. The devices are scalable and adaptable to each environment.
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