5 Contech Firms Raise Over $126M

Matt Thibault / September 11, 2024

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5 contech firms net a total of $126M in funding.

Contech startups that track vendors, decarbonize cement, manage contracts and run schedules were able to raise cash recently, even as commercial construction shows signs of softening, and elevated interest rates continue to stymie projects.

Here are five firms that announced funding rounds over the past month.

Fortera

$85 million

San Jose, California-based cement decarbonization business Fortera raised $85 million in a Series C funding round, the company announced on Aug. 20.

Fortera’s ReCarb process bolts onto existing cement manufacturing plants and captures the industrial carbon dioxide emissions from traditional cement production, according to the release. It then converts the gas to mineral form to achieve a ready-to-use low-carbon cement.

The technology operates at a significantly reduced kiln temperature and is compatible with renewable energy integration, which it claims would further reduce emissions and enable zero carbon dioxide cement production.

With the funding, Fortera will scale the deployment of its low-carbon cement technology, and build additional plants that make the low-carbon cement.

Trunk Tools

$20 million

New York City-based artificial intelligence platform Trunk Tools pulled $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Redpoint Ventures with participation from Innovation Endeavors, who led the firm’s seed round, according to an Aug. 20 news release.

Trunk Tools makes an AI-based tool that contractors can use to track project documents and contracts. Builders can use the service to get immediate answers without leaving the jobsite via a chat-like interface on their smart phones called TrunkText. Contractors including Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane have used the service to manage large projects. Indeed, Gilbane tracked nearly 21,000 documents while renovating the Baird Center in Milwaukee.

Aside from its funding news, Trunk Tools also announced a new feature it calls Schedule Agent. The tool uses AI to link activities and events on a project’s calendar with underlying, supporting documentation, per the release.

Planera

$13.5 million

Pleasanton, California-based construction scheduling software Planera raised $13.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Sierra Ventures, according to the company on Aug. 27.