Why Invest in ConTech?
The numbers don’t lie; Investing in ConTech development is a win-win for all
The construction industry is a tremendous market.
In fact, with an annual world market valuation of $10 trillion as of 2018, and a predicted growth to approximately $15.5 trillion by 2030, there is great potential in investing and innovating in this burgeoning field.
Yet, the construction industry has largely been behind with the times, with respect to the adoption of breakthrough, job-simplifying and enhancing technologies.
Although advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), lasers, augmented reality (AR), computer vision and more could potentially make construction projects, processes and progress smarter and more efficiently, the use of traditional tools and “obsolete” technologies prevail.
To emerge from the metaphorical Stone Age, construction companies can and should learn from the success of the PropTech and leverage ConTech innovations for their daily operations.
Here’s what you need to know about the construction industry and ConTech to date:
ConTech seeks to disrupt the second-least digitized market in the world
Despite the construction industry employing about 7 percent of the world’s population and being worth roughly 13 percent of the global GDP, it also has some of the world’s highest development costs.
These costs are largely attributed to outdated tool and technique usage, which ConTech seeks to disrupt in a big and bold way.
The ConTech space is becoming inundated with private investments
2018 saw over $1.53 billion in private investments poured into the ConTech space, with the most funding being directed towards collaboration platforms – real estate technology that helps various construction industry players work together, or in a more streamlined manner, for more efficient project management.
In the US alone, funding for ConTech start-ups grew by 324 percent in 2018 from the previous year.
Making it an attractive field for would-be innovators.
ConTech that has flexible functionality and covers multiple use cases is more likely to be adopted
When it comes to the construction industry and real estate tech, simplicity is of utmost importance.
Construction companies want to use a product that immediately impacts the cost, risk and time associated with their projects.
A product that provides valuable insights and is collaboration friendly.
But, flexible functionality and flexible use case coverage seem to be critical factors to ConTech’s adoption.
As they allow companies to personalize the tech to meet their unique needs, a benefit that existing “traditional” tools do not.
In 2020, connectivity is becoming key to ConTech success
As construction projects typically involve many players and partners on and off-site, connecting stakeholders, devices and information is seen as a key and necessary capability.
One that is turning into a trendy development in 2020.
This can be enabled through IoT, cloud computing, WiFi connections, etc.
Other leading trends (so far this year) include geospatial technology, BIM, augmented reality (AR), acoustics simulators, drones, and immersive solutions.
Bottom line
It’s an exciting time to be a part of the evolving ConTech industry! With a largely untapped market, and an influx of interest, funding and opportunities, entering the wonderful world of ConTech is sure to be beneficial for all parties involved.
