Digitization and Disruption in the Construction Business

$12.7 trillion! That’s the projected size of the global construction industry in 2022, according to one recent analysis. In the US alone, construction employs some 10 million workers. And while it’s a relatively slow-growth sector, it’s been remarkably stable in many of its elements for hundreds of years. That may begin to change.

Construction Tech — A New Focus of Startup Investment

Although construction would not seem to have the sexy profitability of, say, financial services, to prompt investment, the startup scene has discovered the sector. According to one report, construction startups raised $1.27 billion in funding in the first nine months of 2018 alone. Not only that, but incumbents in or adjacent to the sector are spending big on acquisitions. Like other sectors in which incumbents worry that their ability to innovate may be holding them back, we’re seeing them shell out billions for technology-focused startups making what used to be done obsolete. Thus, Autodesk spent $1.5 billion to acquire BuildingConnected and PlanGrid, after previously buying Assemble Systems earlier in the year. Trimble acquired Viewpoint for $1.2 billion in April of 2018 and e-Builder for $500 million. And what are they spending all that construction technology money on?