Q3 2025 ConTech Market Report

Highlights

• Q3 '25 built environment funding reached $4.4B

  • 66% year-over-year increase

• Construction tech investment has been the key driver this year

  • Investment increased 150% YoY to $1.25B in Q3

  • Post-Series A rounds made up a record 80% of funding in 2025 YTD

  • Longer fundraising lead times have led to larger post-Series A deals

• Specialty trades & subcontractor solutions are an emerging focus area

  • Investments of >$750M in Q3

  • More than 2x any prior quarter

• Construction robotics deployment reached $1.36B year-to-date

  • 125% YoY growth

  • Accounted for 37% of total ConTech funding

• ConTech saw a record 24 exits in the first 3 quarters of 2025

  • All acquisitions

  • Eleven of which were Pre-Seed or Seed companies

  • The median amount raised by these acquired startups was $6M

This report will primarily focus on the construction technology sector. This category has been experiencing the most exciting developments in 2025. We will then briefly review the performance of the Building Tech and Infrastructure Tech segments during the first 3 quarters of 2025.

Nymbl's Category Definitions

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Building Tech – If a building were taken off the ground, everything within that structure, including the management, maintenance, operations, and even the materials it's made out of would fall into this category. Building tech encompasses solutions for developers, owners, operators, underwriters, and brokers of commercial, industrial, and residential buildings. (e.g., HVAC systems, electrical components, structural components, energy management, renovations, facility management, tenant management, VPP, commercial real estate, development, digital twin, carbon management, new building materials, etc.)

Infrastructure Tech – All technologies related to the maintenance, management, and optimization of horizontal assets (roads, bridges, utilities, power, water, etc.) as well as supply chain management and advanced manufacturing. (e.g., utility management, grid management, road & bridge inspection, water/waste management, clean energy generation, EV charging, smart city technologies, etc.).  

Construction Tech (ConTech) – All technologies involved in the construction of vertical and horizontal assets, and removed at the end of a project. (e.g., project management, field management, preconstruction solutions, workforce management, industrialized construction, insurtech, financing, architectural & engineering solutions, etc.) 

Many advanced manufactured technologies could be utilized in one, two, or all three of the above categories, but from an investor perspective, Nymbl classifies specific startup technologies into one of these three buckets based on its primary application.

Built Environment VC Funding by Category (2021 - Q3 2025)

($ in billions)

Category Breakdown

($ in millions)

VC investment in the built environment grew 27% year-over-year through Q3 2025, driven primarily by accelerated investment in construction tech—Nymbl Ventures’ strongest-performing focus area year-to-date.

Construction Tech: Where VC Meets GC

Construction Tech Funding

($ in billions)

Construction Tech investments totaled $1.25B in Q3 2025, nearly matching Q2’s $1.28B, the highest quarterly VC funding levels since Q1 2022. Through the first three quarters of the year, the sector has attracted $3.7B in venture capital, more than double the investment seen during the same period in 2024 and already exceeding annual levels for each of the past three years.

This surge has been fueled by accelerated technology adoption and increased startup maturity, paving the way for larger Series B and later-stage rounds, which accounted for over $1B of Q3’s total ConTech investments (80% of Q3 investments). The 80% allocation of VC funding to post-Series A deals marks a significant evolution in the sector—up from 60% in 2024 and 53% in 2023—reflecting the continued maturation and scaling of the construction tech ecosystem.

Unique Fundraising Wait Times

Months Between Fundraising Rounds by Category

Early-stage Construction Tech startups continue to face longer fundraising cycles, with Seed-to-Series A, Series A-to-B, and Series B-to-C rounds taking two to five months longer on average than those in Infrastructure or Building Tech.

This reflects the project-based validation process unique to the construction industry, where demonstrating product efficacy and usability requires real-world deployment cycles on construction projects that can take anywhere from four months to more than a year. However, once solutions achieve commercial proof and scalability, funding momentum accelerates—evidenced by shorter intervals between Series C and Series D rounds.

While Construction Tech carries a higher barrier to entry than other built environment sectors, its startups tend to scale rapidly once industry validation occurs. Few construction firms are early adopters, but a large pool of fast followers are emerging for technologies that are low-friction to implement and deliver immediate, measurable value to projects.

Longer Fundraising Cycles Lead to Larger Deals

Average Months Between ConTech Funding Rounds

In recent years, fundraising cycles for early-stage Construction Tech startups have lengthened, particularly at the Series A and B stages, while later-stage funding cycles have shortened.

Longer early-stage timelines have prompted many ConTech startups to fully commercialize their products before raising Series A, resulting in larger check sizes and higher valuations for subsequent funding rounds.

In today’s environment of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, VC investors are seeking higher conviction investments. Construction Tech startups face a high bar, as many operate in nascent or untested markets with limited exit histories—raising expectations for commercial traction and proof of scalability at the Seed and Series A stages.

Average Funding by Round

($ in millions)

Average Revenue by Round

($ in millions)

Average Valuation by Round

($ in millions)

Expect fundraising benchmarks for ConTech startups to continue rising as cautious generalist VCs begin to focus more on the built environment.

Specialty Trades & Subcontractor Tech Opportunity

Specialty Trades & Subcontractor Tech Funding

($ in millions)

Investment in technology for specialty trades and subcontractors surged in Q3 2025, reaching >$750M—the highest quarterly funding on record for this niche and more than double previous annual investment levels in the past five years.

This momentum reflects a natural progression downstream from large ENR 400+ general contractors that fueled the rise of $10B+ project management platforms like Procore and Autodesk Construction Cloud. The focus has now shifted toward the more fragmented yet massive subcontractor and specialty trade subsector, representing ostensibly the largest untapped market opportunity within the construction startup market today.

As of August 2025, there are 5.24 million specialty trade contractors in the U.S., accounting for 63% of the total construction workforce (according to BLS statistics). Roughly 80% are self-employed, and the average firm employs fewer than three people, underscoring the market’s fragmentation and need for accessible, low-friction solutions.

Whether targeting bid optimization, workforce management, BIM augmentation, or generative MEP design, these technologies ultimately reduce costs, mitigate risk, and accelerate project timelines, making them a competitive necessity. With a global addressable market estimated at $6.5T (Nymbl's proprietary estimate), this segment is poised to remain a core driver of ConTech investment for years to come.

Startup success in this segment depends on ease of implementation, clear value demonstration, and low behavioral friction for adoption. Once adopted, these solutions tend to achieve exceptional stickiness—the same risk-averse tendencies that delayed adoption now foster long-term loyalty.

Robotics in Construction

ConTech Robotics Funding

($ in millions)

Robotics solutions have been the most significant growth driver in Construction Tech for 2025 thus far, attracting $1.36B in funding year-to-date — a 125% increase over total 2024 levels and accounting for 37% of all ConTech investments in the first nine months of the year.

The most notable robotics round of Q3 was Field AI’s $314M Series B (August '25), which contributed significantly to this investment surge, but momentum has been broad-based, with 23 robotics startups securing funding in 2025 YTD.

Investor interest has centered on solutions that enhance labor productivity, accelerate project timelines, and improve jobsite safety. Heavy equipment automation led the category, representing over 50% of robotics investment with seven deals totaling $684M YTD. Reality capture and surveying robotics followed with $337M across three deals in Q3 alone, while installation robotics secured $163M across six transactions.

3D-printed construction remains a niche area of focus, drawing $70M in new capital across five deals—more than double the combined investments from 2023 and 2024, yet still down 70% from 2022’s $240M. Despite challenges related to scalability and manual post-printing work, interest persists as the technology matures.

As autonomous and semi-autonomous systems demonstrate their value in addressing labor shortages and improving efficiency, robotics investment is expected to continue its upward trajectory as a cornerstone of the ConTech startup ecosystem.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Construction

ConTech AI Funding

($ in millions)

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the focal point of venture capital in Construction Tech, attracting $2.22B year-to-date, or roughly two-thirds of total sector funding in 2025. AI is increasingly being treated as the new SaaS—nearly every software solution now claims to be AI-native or incorporate AI functionality in some way, reshaping workflows across the construction lifecycle.

AI applications are permeating every segment of the industry—from predictive analytics and design optimization to computer-vision-enabled robotics.

The preconstruction phase (including planning, permitting, bid management, design and engineering, procurement, compliance, budgeting, and material planning) has emerged as a key funding hotspot, with $400M invested across 40 deals, a 225% YoY increase. These startups remain early-stage, with an average age under five years, a median investment stage of Seed, and median investment of $4M in 2025.

AI-driven project management solutions are also gaining traction, with $228M raised across 10 deals in 2025—up materially from just $8M from two deals a year prior. These companies' stage falls at a midpoint of Seed+, with a median round size of $6.9M, highlighting the early but accelerating development of this niche.

While many AI-focused ConTech startups still lack the structured data depth required for large-scale commercialization, continued improvements in data standardization and platform integrations are expected to unlock the next wave of efficiency gains—positioning AI as a transformative force in how construction projects are planned, executed, and managed.

See Nymbl's two-part AI report below, which provides a more comprehensive breakdown of how this technology is poised to change the construction industry.

Part 1: Is Construction Ready for AI

Part 2: Construction's Late-Mover Advantage in AI

Data Infrastructure and Management

Data Collection & Management in ConTech Funding

($ in millions)

Data collection and management technologies are forming the foundation for AI adoption in construction, enabling both real-time project visibility and the metadata needed to train effective AI models. This category includes technologies like IoT sensors, reality capture tools, data aggregators, document management systems, ERPs, and more.

The segment has attracted $1.66B across 51 deals in 2025 YTD, representing a 200% increase from 2024, when $551M was invested across 27 companies.

As the construction industry continues to lag in data maturity, these startups are driving a long-overdue cultural and operational shift toward data-driven decision-making, setting the stage for more scalable and impactful AI solutions in the years ahead.

Industrialized Construction

Modular & Prefab Funding

($ in millions)

Investment in modular and prefabricated construction startups saw a modest rebound in 2025, reaching $319M in the first nine months, up from $195M in annual funding last year.

However, this investment niche remains well below its 2022 peak of $790M (annual funding), as investors continue to exercise caution following the $7.8B in cumulative losses tied to high-profile modular disruptors since 2020, including Katerra, Prescient, Veev, TopHat, Nexii, and Ike Homes.

For more insights into the $7.8B Modular Mistake, view Nymbl Venture's 2024 Market Report (Page 13).

Strategic Involvement

Percentage of ConTech Deals with Corporate Investor(s)

Corporate participation in Construction Tech has grown steadily since 2020, as established industry players increasingly recognize their mission-critical role in driving startup innovation and market success.

Construction Tech Exits

The construction technology VC market recorded 24 exits in the first three quarters of 2025 (all acquisitions), surpassing all prior years. However, a significant share of these were distressed transactions, reflecting ongoing market consolidation. Eleven of the 24 exits involved Pre-Seed or Seed-stage startups, and 20 had gone more than two years without new material funding.

The median capital raised among these exited startups was $6M, underscoring both the early-stage nature of most deals and the broader challenges facing undercapitalized entrants in the space.

Building Tech

Building Tech Funding

($ in billions)

Venture investment in Building Tech remained flat year-over-year through the first three quarters of 2025, totaling $3.29B. The sector continues to experience a correction following the FOMO-driven “PropTech” boom of 2022–2023, when annual VC deployment exceeded $6B. Inflows fell to $5.1B in 2024, and 2025 investments are on pace to reach $4.5B, marking a 30% decline from the 2022 peak.

Investment in new building materials has contracted sharply, down 50% year-to-date (YTD) after a 40% decline in 2024. This subcategory peaked at $2.38B in 2023, representing 40% of Building Tech investments that year, but has dropped to $662M YTD, or just 20% of the segment’s total inflows.

Market distress is rising for this investment category. Over the past 12 months, 17 Building Tech startups have failed, and 55 of 502 active companies (11%) appear distressed—surpassing distress levels in both Infrastructure Tech (3.75%) and ConTech (10%). Of the 12 Building Tech exits recorded in the first 9 months of 2025, half were distressed acquisitions, underscoring the market’s ongoing correction and investor caution.

Without renewed VC momentum in this niche, the number of distressed and failed startups is expected to continue climbing in the months ahead.

Infrastructure Tech

Infrastructure Tech Funding

($ in billions)

Infrastructure Tech attracted $5.6B in venture investment during the first nine months of 2025 — a 12% year-over-year increase. Growth was driven by strong gains in supply chain management (+198% YoY to $1.11B), grid and utility management (+63% YoY to $1.2B), reality capture (+65% YoY to $725M), and robotics (+163% YoY to $550M), demonstrating continued momentum in this mission-critical segment.

Since the start of the year, five Infrastructure Tech startups (out of more than 560 tracked by Nymbl) have failed — three early-stage firms that had raised less than $5M, and two later-stage companies inactive for over 2.5 years.

The sector also recorded 14 exits, including four distressed acquisitions. The median capital raised by these acquired firms was just over $10M. Currently, 21 Infrastructure Tech startups (approximately 3.75% of active companies) are classified as distressed, reflecting relative stability compared to other built environment categories.

Conclusion

Venture investment in the built environment rose 27% YoY through Q3 2025, with Construction Tech emerging as this industry's primary VC growth engine. The broader ecosystem reflects a maturing investment landscape marked by selective capital deployment, increasing corporate participation, and early signals of stabilization following the volatility of prior years.

Building Tech remained flat, constrained by the ongoing correction from the 2022–2023 PropTech bubble. Startups in this segment continue to face consolidation and distress, underscoring the market’s shift toward sustainable, commercially validated models. Infrastructure Tech posted steady growth, driven by grid modernization, robotics, and supply chain innovation, while maintaining lower distress levels than its peers.

Construction Tech led the surge, surpassing $3.7B YTD, driven by rapid adoption of scalable solutions and larger Series B and later rounds. Within this segment, investment momentum was fueled by technologies enhancing efficiency, safety, and automation—particularly robotics, AI, and data infrastructure solutions. Robotics alone accounted for over one-third of total ConTech funding, while AI-enabled startups captured two-thirds of all sector investment, signaling a paradigm shift toward automation and intelligent decision-making.

Specialty trade and subcontractor solutions saw record inflows as innovation moved downstream toward a massive yet fragmented market representing over 60% of the construction workforce. Similarly, data management and IoT platforms attracted record capital as investors recognized their foundational role in enabling scalable AI adoption.

While modular and prefabricated construction solutions saw a modest rebound, investor sentiment remains cautious following years of overinvestment and high-profile failures. The market is now favoring asset-light and tech-enabled models over capital-intensive disruptors.

Finally, corporate involvement and M&A activity continue to expand, with record exit volume in 2025 driven largely by distressed acquisitions of early-stage startups. This trend points to a consolidating startup market in which strategic corporates, rather than traditional VCs, are increasingly shaping the next wave of innovation.

Overall, 2025 marks an inflection point for the built environment’s venture landscape—transitioning from speculative exuberance to strategic maturity, with capital concentrating around scalable, data-driven, and AI-enhanced solutions that promise measurable ROI across the construction value chain.