Ditio secures funding to fuel further growth and geographical expansion
Ditio aims to make construction sites more sustainable with artificial intelligence and is raising money for a new issue. As new investors, Dovetail signs on backed by Ferd Impact, together with Construct Venture.
In a short time, the newcomer Ditio has established itself as a leading supplier of real-time data and AI solutions for digital management of projects in the Norwegian construction industry. Among other things, the company develops artificially intelligent tools for tracking, planning, and optimization of mass transport, which will help make construction sites more sustainable.
The company has now brought in new capital to ensure further growth and international expansion. The new investors are Dovetail backed by Ferd Impact, as well as Construct Venture – OBOS and AF Gruppen‘s joint industrial venture setup. Skanska Digital – which has been an investor since 2019 – continues as the largest shareholder.
The ownership team is strengthened with both industrial and international software expertise, which fuels the company’s growth ambitions. Ditio will not only use artificial intelligence to streamline the process of cutting emissions but will become the preferred software supplier for both large and small players in the global construction market.
– We had our first meeting with Ditio in February last year, and everything we have learned about them over the past year has made us confident that we are a good match, says Codruta Gamulea Berg, Partner at Dovetail, which invests in technology-based companies. – We have spoken to many of the company’s customers and are extremely impressed by the feedback. It is rare for a product to be so successful in an industry with a low degree of digitization, where it has been notoriously difficult to gain access to – and value from – data.
When Construct Venture – with OBOS and AF Gruppen as owners enters as owner, it will be a significant commitment from some of the biggest players in the industry.
As part of the due diligence process, AF Anlegg tested Ditio’s software on one of their projects, with very good feedback. We have strong faith in Ditio commercially and feel that the solution has high industrial relevance, and with this investment want to contribute to a gathering of forces within construction to make the industry’s resource use and environmental impact more efficient, says Jan Fossgård in Construct Venture.
Ditio gives customers the opportunity to stream real-time data from the construction site and provides a full overview of everything from time registration to follow-up of subcontractors, load lists, location, and equipment. Skanska became Ditio’s first major customer a few years ago, and since then signed up the majority of major players in the Norwegian market as active customers.
– It is nice to see that we are a preferred supplier for the larger contractors, who have often grown from the systems that suited them when the requirements, the complexity, and the company were smaller. We seem to have cracked a code that provides a positive experience for construction workers to collect data in real-time, as a natural part of the workflow. It is particularly rewarding to see how customers use Ditio data to develop advanced analytics for better control over resource use, profitability, and CO2 emissions, says Erik Aadland, CEO Ditio.
It is the sustainability aspect that is particularly interesting for Skanska, which has committed to becoming climate neutral by 2045, and must halve its emissions already by 2030.
– As an example, construction machinery accounts for a fifth of the greenhouse gas emissions from the construction industry. Integrating technologies such as route optimization through machine learning and artificial intelligence in real-time management of construction machinery gives the driver control over the load, recommends optimal speed, and reduces inefficient idle time. Which results in better utilization of the machines and lower greenhouse gas emissions, says Christoffer Hernæs, CDO at Skanska and chairman of Ditio.
Ditio’s new mass hauling solution goes beyond reducing idle time, but also streamlines the process of ensuring that non-contaminated soil and rock masses are recovered or utilized, while contaminated masses are transported to approved landfills.