The top 12 VC investors in global construction tech

A decade ago, construction technology was barely an industry. VCs invested just $4.5 million across two construction tech deals around the world during 2008. But that’s rapidly changing. By 2017 those numbers swelled to $538 million across 40 deals, per the PitchBook Platform.

This year, venture capitalists have already poured more than $900 million into the industry, although a significant portion of that comes from an $865 million investment SoftBank led in January in Katerra, a startup that uses software and tech to design and manufacture buildings, among other services. There have been 16 construction tech deals in 2018 so far, on pace to top last year’s total of 40 as a new decade-high.

The construction tech industry consists of companies building hardware and software related to construction, building and infrastructure. That comes in a lot of different forms, from project management software to drones that survey job sites to VR tools. BuildingConnected, which offers communication software for construction professionals, and Betterview, a platform for drone-based property inspections, are among the construction startups besides Katerra to pull in funding this year.

The rise of VC investment in the space is likely due in part to growth in private construction projects, which are outpacing public projects in nearly every sector, according to research from PwC. The global construction industry as a whole is forecasting healthy expansion, with the Construction Intelligence Center projecting average growth of 3.7% per year through 2022.

Here’s a look at the 12 most active VC investors in the global construction tech industry since the start of 2008, per the PitchBook Platform, including their deal counts: