Continuum Industries has secured £1.5m funding.
The Edinburgh construction tech firm provides AI tools for engineering professionals to rapidly design linear infrastructure projects and reduce their costs.
It says the seed round will support infrastructure planners and designers to plot a path to worldwide economic recovery post COVID-19.
Founded out of Edinburgh in 2018 with initial backing from Skyscanner’s Gareth Williams, Continuum’s CI Engine allows its users to automate their existing engineering design process and use AI, like a co-pilot, to explore millions of design options in rich detail.
Grzegorz Marecki, co-founder and CEO said: “Before founding Continuum Industries, we led a 150-people strong hyperloop team at the University of Edinburgh.
“While there, we built the UK’s first hyperloop prototype vehicle and successfully competed in contests run by SpaceX and Virgin Hyperloop One.
“It was the hyperloop moonshot that made us realise the socio-economic value of infrastructure and forced us to think about better ways of taking infrastructure projects from ideas to reality.
“Infrastructure like roads, water pipelines or transmission lines is fundamental to our modern way of life and to the global economy. Yet, nine out of ten infrastructure projects are behind schedule or over budget. What’s more, productivity of the construction industry has not increased in the last 30 years.
“As we fight to reduce our environmental impact and meet the needs of a growing population, we can’t keep relying on decades-old methods that are no longer fit for purpose – Continuum Industries brings an AI-powered alternative to help the construction industry increase its productivity and meet the demand.”
The round was co-led by Playfair Capital and Credo Ventures with participation from Techstart Ventures, Simon Blakey, Michael Blakey and others.
Chris Smith, Managing Partner at Playfair Capital, who joined the company’s board of directors, said: “We are delighted to have co-led this investment round with Credo Ventures in Prague and with support from Techstart Ventures in Edinburgh.
“From the first message the team sent me on LinkedIn, we have been impressed with the depth and breadth of expertise they have in the infrastructure and construction space, matched with a burning passion to change the way we plan and build critical infrastructure projects.
“Even at this relatively early stage, the technology Continuum Industries has built is a genuine game-changer, enabling significant time and cost savings for all parties involved in designing and constructing linear infrastructure projects.
“With signed customers across Europe and a growing global pipeline of interest we are excited to be onboard to support the team through the next phase of growth.”