Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups working on solutions for the construction sector. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we decided to share our insights with you. This time, we are taking a look at 5 promising reinforced concrete solutions.
Heat Map: 5 Top Reinforced Concrete Solutions
Using our StartUs Insights Platform, covering 1.116.000+ startups & emerging companies, we looked at innovation in the construction sector. For this research, we identified 160 relevant solutions and picked 5 to showcase below. These companies were chosen based on a data-driven startup scouting approach, taking into account factors such as location, founding year, and technology among others. Depending on your specific criteria, the top picks might look entirely different.
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 startups & emerging companies developing reinforced concrete solutions. Moreover, the Heat Map reveals regions that observe a high startup activity and illustrates the geographic distribution of all 160 companies we analyzed for this specific topic.
Hoffmann Technologies – Green Cement For Reinforced Concrete
The most common raw material used for RC is portland cement. The manufacturing process for cement includes a rotary kiln and heating at extremely high temperatures. As a result, this creates a significant carbon footprint and is not environmentally sustainable. Startups currently develop innovative materials to tackle carbon emissions by addressing the firing process in cement manufacturing.
French startup Hoffman Green Cement Technologies manufactures sustainable cement as input for RC. With the help of a clinker-free manufacturing process, the startup develops H-UKR, a ready-mix concrete input for construction. Using metallurgical slag and flash clay, the startup eliminates the traditional heating process, thus enabling construction with low or carbon emission-free RC.
Basanite Industries – Basalt-Based Rebar
Traditional reinforcement materials like steel rebars come with issues related to corrosion and the cost of steel. Basalt is a viable alternative to steel rebars as it is both lightweight and stronger. Moreover, basalt rebars improve ductility and the tensile strength of concrete, enabling a reduction of construction costs.
The US-based startup Basanite Industries produces basalt-based rebars for concrete reinforcement. The basalt rebar, BasaFlex, reduces construction costs related to handling and placing and is resistant to corrosion as well. Additionally, the expansion coefficient of BasaFlex is similar to that of concrete and offers higher levels of durability. Moreover, BasaFlex is non-conductive and non-magnetic which ensures zero interference with radio frequencies.
IsoTruss Industries – Geometric Shapes For RC Structures
The structural integrity and life of reinforced concrete structures is an important aspect of construction and infrastructure. This is due to the high cost of rework that is involved in such situations. The different ways of winding and tying the steel enable better and stronger structures that last for extended periods. Startups and emerging companies develop innovative geometric methods of creating reinforced concrete structures.
The US-based startup IsoTruss Industries provides composite grid structures for reinforcing concrete. With the help of novel geometric forms, structures are wound longitudinally and helically. This helps increase the strength-to-weight ratio in any structure, thus enabling sustainable and durable construction.
Toggle – Automated Rebar Assembly
Construction companies incur huge costs for rebar assembly as it requires intensive manual efforts. The automation of this process brings about a positive change to construction timelines and enables lean labor management. As a result, startups develop innovative robotics and automation solutions to tackle rebar assembly.
The US-based startup Toggle delivers prefabricated rebar assemblies. By integrating computer-aided design (CAD) and building information modeling (BIM) into a digital workflow, the startup eliminates the complexity of rebar assembly at the construction site. This, in turn, improves worker safety and productivity. Moreover, they offer pre-tying services of cages up to 7.6 meters (25 feet) in length.
MOBBOT – 3D Printed Reinforced Concrete
Additive printing of reinforced concrete allows for customizable designs and faster turnaround time for production. Intelligent reinforcement, like mixing fibrous material in the concrete, provides additional structural integrity. Automated insertion of rebars, in combination with additive printing processes, further improves the strength of RC. Emerging companies develop innovative additive manufacturing solutions for the mass production of 3D printed RC.
Swiss startup MOBBOT provides robotics-enabled additive fabrication solutions for passive reinforcement of concrete. Controlling and automating the printing process eliminates cold joints between the layers. In addition, the print head is attached to an industrial robot and delivers printing speeds of 1 ton in 10 minutes, thus enabling automated reinforcement and mass customization in RC production.
What About The Other 155 Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence so you can achieve your goals faster. The 5 reinforced concrete solutions showcased above are promising examples out of 160 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria, get in touch.
