Israeli startup Buildots, which has developed software to help real estate companies manage construction and monitor the progress of work, has been hired by Intel's construction division to improve the pace of new building and warn about possible delays, a source familiar with the matter has told "Globes." Estimates are that the deal is worth several million dollars.
This development comes after last week Buildots announced the completion of a $15 million financing round led by Intel Capital, the investment arm of Intel, although the two companies chose not to disclose their supplier-customer relationship. Nor was any response forthcoming from either company to "Globes" enquiry on the matter. Other investors in the financing round include Eyal Ofer's OG Venture Partners, chip serial entrepreneur Avigdor Willenz, Viola, TLV Partners, Tidhar and Lightspeed Partners. Buildots has raised $120 million to date and has 200 employees including 150 in Israel.
Intel is currently implementing an impressive building boom, constructing nine plants in Malaysia, the US, Poland, Germany, Ireland and Israel. Not everything is going smoothly with the plants costing an average $10-20 billion to build, amid cash troubles, fierce competition, and protracted talks about government grants.
Intel recently announced that construction of the plants in Germany and Israel would be delayed. In Israel Intel even decided to delay construction of one of the clean rooms in the new plant, apparently due to a cash crunch and a decision to wait for more new customers in the field of production.
Buildots, which was founded by Roy Danon, Aviv Leibovici and Yakir Sudry, has developed a cloud-based platform that produces a real-time comparison between the actual construction stages and the original plan, to solve problems as they arise and not in retrospect. "The construction process is 90% under control, but the remaining 10% is chaotic," Danon told "Globes" after Buildots was chosen as one of Globes 10 promising startups for 2022.
This is not just a simple difference between plan and execution. Buildots equips the workers and foremen at the construction site with Go-Pro cameras that scan the construction, so that a three-dimensional model of the building or factory is created in the customer's computer at any moment - one that even knows when there is a circuit breaker that is not placed correctly or when the plaster work was not done on time. The company recently launched a product that is very relevant for Intel: a system that it claims is capable of reducing the number of delays by 50% and shortening the construction time by 2-4 months, partly through the use of AI.
Buildots began with one project in each of two Israeli construction giants it works with: Israel's BST and Tidhar, which has invested in the startup. The company has since worked with international giants such as the US Build Group, the UK's Wates, Sweden's NCC and Ireland's John Paul. Today Buildots mainly serves companies in the UK, France and Scandinavia, including: Google, Mace, Waits, Vinci and NCC.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 15, 2024.
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