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Technology innovation body Digital Catapult has selected ten AI startups to tackle inefficiencies in construction through a government-backed accelerator aimed at scaling digital solutions into real-world project delivery.
The initiative forms part of the BridgeAI programme, a national AI adoption drive led by government agency Innovate UK and delivered in partnership with Digital Catapult, the Alan Turing Institute, the Hartree Centre and the British Standards Institution. It is designed to support digital transformation in sectors with high growth potential but historically low uptake of artificial intelligence.
Digital Catapult, established in 2013 by government agency Innovate UK to accelerate the adoption of advanced digital technologies, said the construction-focused accelerator would apply AI to persistent sector challenges including fragmented workflows, compliance complexity, and the slow uptake of modern methods of construction (MMC).
The ten startups (see boxout) will collaborate with architects Foster + Partners, engineers Buro Happold and 3D printing specialist Versarien on live use cases involving design automation, real-time materials analysis and digitally enabled project delivery.
Dr Stephen Hodge, chief executive at Versarien, said the accelerator would help “unlock meaningful efficiencies in 3D construction printing” through better integration of material performance and digital fabrication data.
The BridgeAI programme has engaged more than 2,500 organisations across sectors since its launch. Through Digital Catapult’s accelerator, participating firms will receive innovation support, technical guidance and direct industry engagement to ready their tools for deployment at scale.
A showcase of the selected startups’ work is scheduled for later this year.
AI start-ups participating in Digital Catapult
- AIConstruct – developing a parametric script generator for robotic 3D printing in construction.
- BOHM – improving its decentralised data environment, with automated ISO 19650 compliance and intelligent query tools.
- Constructify – building an end-to-end, AI-enabled project management platform to streamline delivery processes.
- DONAA – prototyping a system combining sensor data and computer vision to assess material durability.
- Fairware – developing CliqAI, a real-time materials insight platform for design-for-manufacture analysis.
- Gpeto AI – building an AI evaluation framework to benchmark and improve model performance for construction use cases.
- Infinitive – creating an AI configurator for modular panelised systems to support user-driven generative design.
- Lattice – advancing AI tools for generative design, predictive maintenance and seamless data exchange.
- Planarific – using aerial imagery to generate enriched 3D retrofit models of existing buildings.
- Planninghub – enhancing its AI-powered planning assistant for residential planning applications.
Source: Digital Catapult press release
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Ben Vogel