Swedish startup Cemvision raises €10 million to develop net-zero cement
Cemvision, a Swedish startup specializing in green cement, has just announced a €10 million funding round which will go towards accelerating its operations. Swedish VCs Polar Structure and Backing Minds were the main investors, alongside Zacua Ventures, a Californian-based construction VC. This investment represents the largest known green cement seed round to date.
The company has designed an innovative alternative to traditional Portland cement, whose production reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 95% while retaining durability and performance. Their cement is produced using raw materials recycled from industrial waste and kilns powered by green electricity at much lower temperatures. Cemvision’s cement achieves early compressive strength up to five times faster than Portland cement, allowing for shorter construction times and increased on-site productivity.
After winning over its first client – the Swedish industrial corporation LKAB – in December 2023, the startup plans to use the funds to increase its workforce and continue to invest in developing its technology. Cemvision is also backed by the EQT Foundation and Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy, which have given the startup R&D support.
Parspec raises $11.5 million to bring AI to construction product procurement.
Founded in 2021 in San Mateo, California, Parspec has recently closed a $11.5 million seed round led by Building Ventures, Heartland Ventures and Hometeam Ventures. These funds will go towards accelerating the development of its AI-powered software platform that streamlines the selection and sale of construction products.
Parspec is targeting the complex and time-consuming product procurement process, which is a major problem area in the sector. The process currently involves practitioners having to manually compare design specifications to technical product documentation on thousands of manufacturer websites, which is a time-consuming and error-prone process. Parspec’s solution uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) and computer vision models to instantly identify spec-compliant products, therefore reducing labor time by 50% compared to manual methods.
Parspec is initially focused on lighting and electricity product procurement, working with market leaders such as Sonepar, Graybar and Rexel. Parspec intends to use the funds raised to expand its range into other product categories and secure more partnerships.
US construction 3D-printing startup Apis Core scores new funding.
American startup Apis Cor, a specialist in construction 3D printing technologies and robotics, has announced a new strategic partnership with D.R. Horton, the largest homebuilder in the US, with the latter investing a substantial non-disclosed amount.
Apis Cor and D.R. Horton plan to collaborate on a multi-unit project in South Florida, using Apis Cor’s soon-to-be-completed 3D-printed wall system.
Up until now, the startup has made the headlines for its 3D-printed individual housing units in Dubai, Texas and Missouri. However, this partnership marks a new step as it will enable the company to deploy its 3D-printing technology on a larger scale across the construction industry. This comes at a time when the White House has promised to increase the nation’s housing stock and create new incentives for first-time buyers. With demand for more affordable housing built quickly, this is something the partnership can deliver.
Alongside this, Apis Cor opened up funding to the participatory investor community, reaching a total of 700 investors.
There’s more…
- Swedish startup Alrik raises €1 million to reduce the carbon footprint of construction sector transport – Read more at Tech.eu
- British startup Automated Architecture raises £2.6 million for its modular construction concept – Read more at Sifted
- US construction 3D-printing pioneer Icon presents an “AI Architect” – Read more at ITnewsOnline
- Swedish urban micromobility specialist Voi raises $25 million – Read more at Tech.eu
- Texas-based startup Waabi uses generative AI to predict road traffic – Read more at Technology Review
- US startup Furno raises $6.5 million in seed funding to transform cement manufacturing – Read more at Techcrunch
- Boston-based MIT spinout Allium Engineering raises $3 million to produce steel structures with less carbon emissions – Read more at BizJournals
