What is the idea?The startup idea is to establish a company, which would utilize drones to monitor the progress on the construction sites. This startup can aim to disrupt the business of Project Management & Site Monitoring consultants.
The startup would make use of drones to solve problems about building & ground surveys, aerial mapping, site inspections and project progress report. The company would create software to help with the issues above by linking the software to drones.
Market Definition CIC's (Construction Intelligence Center) has identified a group of the 50 largest and most influential markets in the world, known as Global 50. According to CIC, the global construction industry in Global 50 is projected to grow from US$7.4 trillion in 2010 to US$8.5 trillion in 2015 and US$10.3 trillion in 2020, when measured at constant 2010 prices and exchange rates (real 2010 US$). The construction industry is expected to grow highest in the Middle East overtaking the Asia Pacific region between 2016-2020.
According to Research and Markets, Building Inspection Services industry sales were $3.5 billion in 2014 alone; these figures relate to the USA alone. Construction is in full swing in other developing markets as well and presents a great business opportunity.
Competitor Analysis Many companies offer tech related products and solve the problem of inefficiency or monitoring in the construction industry. AeroAnalytics is also developing a software platform that leverages drones to resolve the building sector's toughest problems
Pain Point & Target Audience The target audiences are contractors and the construction companies. Building complex structures and large multi-story buildings is an expensive and time-consuming process, construction companies, are always looking at solutions to monitor cost, quality and time aspects of the project.
Site Inspections/Surveys are resource intensive, and usually, people from head office travel to the sites to make a report. Most of the projects require real-time updates and due to prohibitive costs doing this daily or on a weekly basis becomes a challenge for the clients and construction companies.
The current practice of using onsite project management and monitoring teams is an expensive proposition and costs between 1.5 to 2 percent of the project fees. By using technology, the client as well as the construction companies can better quality and real-time updates.
Value Proposition By having a camera fitted drone hover through the construction areas, a remote team anywhere in the world can monitor the progress and update the schedule.
Drones can be used to expedite inspections as they can cover a larger area in a short span of time. Drones can collect data, which can be sent to a cloud-based device, which can use such the data, like images and other details for further analysis. The inspection of a building (either under construction or a constructed one for defects) can be done without anyone going around different floors of a multi-story building.
Business Model The business model for this idea involves two revenue streams. The company will have a b2b model. The first stream is where the company will sell its product which is the software linked to the drone, that can be used by construction companies for conducting site inspections.
The second model is construction companies can outsource the entire site inspection process to the startup for a certain fee. The startup can pick up work in developed countries and keep a remote team in developing countries to update the progress.
Way to market The first step would be to create niche software that can analyze the data transmitted by the drones. The software should use artificial intelligence to learn from the data picked up in the past and should be able to suggest the solutions for rectifying errors based on collected data.
Milestones Once the software is ready, the company should start aiming for corporate sales. The company will need sales personnel to sell the products and outsourced services directly to the companies. It is advisable that the firm should initially focus on outsourcing monitoring, which will enable them to understand the issues in the industry for refining the product.
The company should tie-up with the leading construction management companies, and carry out the inspections as part of their services.
Investment Needed For PrototypeThe startup would need to start with at least USD 250K from angel investors or incubators. Although the cost of drones will not be too high, the creation of software may take time and energy.
Team Capability It is advisable to have a CAD designer, Geo-Spatial mapping expert, Construction Project Management, Construction Quality and Health and Safety specialists in the team from day one. This startup requires a multidisciplinary approach and will integrate hardware, image recognition and project management in one offering.
Investors / Expert Take Construction Tech industry at its nascent stages and will see a rush of startups and keen interest from Investors. According to CB Insights, construction tech, while still nascent, is a growing industry with funding growing 5x in 2015 alone. Funds like Bloom Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Tenaya Capital, FundersClub, Hyde Park Venture Partners and Vanedge Capital have been actively investing in this sector. In case you need any assistance on this project please visit us at yostartups.com and drop us a request note, we will be more than happy to help you in taking this project from idea to the execution stage.
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