From sewers to space: meet five start-ups transforming the built world
Last year was pivotal for the Pi Labs programme — we rebranded to a growth programme and started focusing on slightly more advanced companies that could better utilise Pi Labs’ network of mentors, customers, and investors. After a successful 10th cohort, we very much proved the programme’s effectiveness for later stage teams, with the cohort securing a combined $18.6m in subsequent funding. That being said, it is in our DNA to continuously iterate, and our latest programme has not been an exception. The lead up to Cohort 11’s launch day has been all about streamlining operations — from introducing new platforms for mentor engagement, to critically examining the contents of every single workshop, and refining the overall structure and cadence of engagement — we’ve been fine tuning the offering to ensure we provide the best value possible to this year’s cohort. We may be biased, but we think we’ve cracked it!
The process of building each cohort starts long before launch day. We began opening applications for Cohort 11 in September last year, as well as actively scouting teams from across the globe. Over the course of four months, we received over 1,000 applications, held over 100 meetings and coordinated more than 40 detailed interviews before finally taking eight teams to our investment committee (IC) and approving five. It’s worth noting that this high approval rate at IC is a direct result of the thorough selection process at the earlier stages, so only the best and most relevant teams made it to IC.
Overview of the teams
The five companies comprising Cohort 11 have developed technological solutions that have the power to transform the way businesses and societies interact with the built world, covering themes such as emissions tracking from space; workplace wellbeing; modular construction; wastewater surveillance for viral risks; and data privacy management.
These themes are very much in line with our broadening investment thesis, which goes beyond the traditional view of proptech, and considers the entire spectrum of the built environment — from how we live, own, work, build, move and experience the world around us. That may sound like quite an all-encompassing definition — but it’s meant to. We pride ourselves on looking at our sector with a broad lens, while still maintaining our vertical expertise.
We’ve also made strides in terms of representation, with 60% of this year’s cohort being female co-founded businesses. That’s up from 33% in 2021. We’re particularly proud of this, as we’ve been actively working to reach and attract more diverse teams over the past 24 months. You can read about our efforts on this front here.
With that, I will leave you to have a look through the 5 participating teams. If you are interested in engaging with any of them, please do not hesitate to reach out to me (boyan@pilabs.vc) ✉️
Airmo
Industry — SpaceTech
Location — Berlin, Germany
Founded year — 2022
Problem — As per a BCG report, 85% of companies are concerned about reducing emissions, yet only 9% are able to measure their emissions comprehensively, and of the companies that do measure emissions, the error rate is 30–40%.
Solution — Airmo is a SpaceTech solution to measure greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, providing precise and localised emissions data, processed in real-time reports. Airmo improves on current space-based solutions, mounting a proprietary LiDAR sensor to a constellation of micro satellites (‘CubeSat’), thereby increasing the accuracy of data and reducing the cost of data vs. traditional instruments. The company will use data science and advanced analytics to display results visually to customers within 40 minutes from measurement. This solution improves carbon emissions measurement and enables leakage tracking.
Ambr
Industry — Future of work
Location — London, UK
Founded year — 2022
Problem —While there has been a significant focus and increased awareness over the past few years on employee mental health and wellbeing, burnout is still one of the main causes of loss of productivity (~$155 billion lost per year). However, most corporates, small and large, have addressed this by helping employees with personal time management (such as perks and benefits) rather than treating the root causes of the problem — which are usually linked to poor time boundaries, unsustainable workload, lack of recognition, poor relationships and lack of autonomy.
Solution — Ambr is a software that aggregates anonymous employee behavioural data that integrates into existing workplace tools to help prevent burnout. The platform monitors the root causes of burnout (vacation usage, deep work vs. meetings, late night emails from management). Ambr also offers 15 second “pulse check-ins” each morning to ask how the employee personally feels. The platform then gives managers or team leaders analytical insights and proactive alerts to help them protect their teams from stress and burnout.
Kertos
Industry — Data Privacy
Location — Munich, Germany
Founded year — 2021
Problem — Complying with GDPR and implementing a robust data governance is a manual and lengthy process, which takes up a significant amount of resources, depending on how scattered customer data is across various platforms. To put this into context, in 2021, organisations worldwide were using an average of 110 SaaS applications to manage all types of operations. Many of these platforms inherently store customer data, and cross referencing across these various platforms has not been automated.
Solution — Kertos is a no-code SaaS solution connecting a company’s entire infrastructure to manage personal data, making systems, applications and data processes visible through its discovery function and fully automating previously manual GDPR processes. This is done by executing workflows, handling data subject requests, and building self-maintaining records of processing activities. Their dashboard visualises and tracks the progress of all such requests, allowing any team member to take action. Based on this, a GDPR compliant archive can be created for customers, and privacy breach management can be supported, as the exact extent and content of a breach can be identified.
Trunk
Industry — Industrial Efficiency / ConTech
Location —Manchester, UK
Founded year — 2021
Problem — Each year we spend $7 trillion on construction globally. Current construction methods are inefficient, varying in quality, choking our oceans with waste, and won’t help us home a rapidly growing population.
Pre-fabricating buildings in factories — like Lego pieces — is cleaner and accelerates the supply of good quality homes, schools, hospitals and more. To unlock its full potential, “prefab” companies need to coordinate and deliver to construction sites on time. That’s why Trunk was born.
Solution — For prefab manufacturers — Trunk gives design, manufacturing and construction teams a way to collaborate, coordinate and deliver projects more efficiently.
Trunk’s software brings manufacturing execution and construction site assembly into one simple system — reducing downtime, improving build quality and finishing projects 20% faster.
Untap
Industry — HealthTech
Location — London, UK
Founded year — 2021
Problem — Viruses are carried by asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic people, only detected when symptoms emerge and transmission has already occurred. This means that we are blind to the viruses that are moving through our communities, leaving us incapable of taking proactive measures. The annual cost of this from influenza and norovirus alone is estimated to be £36 billion in UK and USA. Added to this is the immeasurable cost of coronavirus(es) going forward. This is further fuelled by an increased risk of another virus outbreak that is equal or greater to that of COVID-19.
Solution — Untap have a created a patent-pending device that any community can install to monitor their health in real-time, detecting both asymptomatic and symptomatic cases. Untap can detect one infected person in 10,000 healthy people, with 95% sensitivity and 99% specificity. A single device can monitor multiple pathogens, and once installed is fully automated.
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