Excitement was palpable as Holcim MAQER Ventures returned to Slush 2023, the world’s largest startup event. Following the success of their recent participation, where the team once again took the lead in shaping the future of construction, they made waves on November 30th to December 1st.

At Slush 2023, Holcim MAQER Ventures actively participated in the “Construction tech on the forefront of the climate challenge” event, organized by Leonard. The event featured discussions among entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate representatives from Saint-Gobain, Vinci, Zacua Ventures, Brick and Mortar Ventures, Cemex and Fundamental on key challenges in the construction industry and the pivotal role of innovative technologies for sustainable growth.

Following this event, Holcim MAQER Ventures took center stage in three dynamic panels organized by 27pilots. These panels provided valuable insights into navigating the intricacies of corporate-startup collaboration and showcased Holcim MAQER Ventures’ dedication to fostering innovation in the construction industry.

Holcim MAQER Ventures is known for catalyzing game-changing partnerships and continues to be at the forefront of innovation. We are eagerly anticipating our participation in next year’s edition of Slush, excited to contribute to discussions on sustainability, innovation, and the future of the construction industry!

In a dynamic move, Holcim proudly announces the strategic spin-off of its revolutionary construction technology startup, StruxHub. This strategic decision underscores Holcim’s commitment to driving innovation and disrupting the construction industry. 

Developed through Holcim’s internal innovation drive and strategic partnerships, StruxHub stands as a testament to Holcim MAQER Ventures’ dedication to advancing efficient and sustainable building practices. StruxHub has not only become a valuable asset in the venture arm’s investment portfolio but also showcases the successful integration of disruptive technologies into the construction sector.

StruxHub’s platform, a game-changer for general contractors, has garnered attention for its role in streamlining coordination among specialty trade contractors and materials suppliers. With a significant impact on leading contractors in the US and Canada, StruxHub has proven its mettle in optimizing materials deliveries, site logistics, and safety workflows on complex projects.

To catalyze its growth and amplify its impact, StruxHub strategically separates from Holcim through this spin-off, emerging as an independent force poised to scale its groundbreaking solution. Holcim MAQER Ventures takes center stage in this development, continuing its unwavering support of StruxHub’s founding team.

This strategic spin-off not only emphasizes Holcim’s commitment to sustainable building practices and disruptive innovation but also highlights the crucial role of Holcim MAQER Ventures in nurturing and advancing groundbreaking solutions within its investment portfolio.

We are delighted to share that we successfully participated in HackZürich 2023, marking our fourth consecutive year of involvement and, notably, the first one as Holcim MAQER Ventures.

The event proved to be a unique fusion of engaging activities, knowledge sharing, and a distinctive ambiance that collectively cultivated innovation and inspired all participants. We extend our gratitude to those who joined us on this journey, which offered mutual learning, inspiration, and abundant opportunities to shape the future technological landscape.

HackZürich serves as an important platform that allows us to access leading tech talents from around the globe, enabling us to to get out of the box approaches to our most pressing business needs.

This year we brought indeed a real-business challenge in collaboration with Holcim Latin America: “Smart logistics: data-driven efficiency & sustainability”. Hackers were asked to pioneer the reduction of empty truck trips with data from the Argentinian and Mexican trucks’ logistics, and they delivered!

The winning team, “Truckathon”, developed an application able to optimize transportation routes for trucks in the construction industry. Learn more about their project here.

HackZürich provided a valuable platform for collaboration on innovative solutions addressing real-world problems, fostering new ideas, and building meaningful connections.

Looking ahead, we are eagerly anticipating our participation in next year’s edition of HackZürich, excited to continue this journey of exploration, collaboration, and innovation!

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Exciting news on the sustainability front! Holcim is thrilled to announce its strategic investment in Neustark, an innovative cleantech startup leading the charge against one of today’s most critical challenges – CO2 emissions. Neustark’s game-changing technology ingeniously mineralizes CO2 within construction demolition materials, effectively removing it from the atmosphere and locking it away for good.

Holcim’s unwavering dedication to advancing circular construction and its expertise in recycling align seamlessly with Neustark’s ambitious mission: removing one million tons of CO2 by 2030. Notably, Neustark’s groundbreaking solution is already transforming sustainability practices at Holcim Switzerland, setting the stage for a global revolution in sustainable construction.

Born as a spinoff of ETH Zurich in 2019, Neustark’s proprietary technology, spearheaded by founders Johannes Tiefenthaler and Valentin Gutknecht, is a giant leap towards a greener, more sustainable future. Their innovative process captures atmospheric CO2, liquifies it, and seamlessly integrates it into recycled concrete, yielding a dual-benefit material that’s both environmentally friendly and structurally robust.

As part of this dynamic partnership, Holcim’s investment will empower Neustark to advance its technology and expand its global reach. Together, Holcim and Neustark are poised to reshape the future of the construction industry, delivering substantial environmental benefits and creating a win-win solution for partners, clients, and, ultimately, our beloved planet. Stay tuned for a greener tomorrow!

Holcim, a beacon of sustainable construction, embarks on a momentous journey by announcing its investment as a limited partner (LP) in Suffolk Technologies USD 110 million venture capital fund. This transformative alliance embodies a dual pursuit—carving a path towards sustainability, and nurturing innovation that reverberates across the construction realm, from cutting-edge sustainability ventures to revolutionary artificial intelligence undertakings.

Suffolk Technologies is a leading venture capital investor in construction technologies. Their portfolio flourishes with transformative solutions: realizing verifiable carbon neutrality within structures, trailblazing energy storage solutions that electrify construction sites, and AI-driven marvels that optimize job site dynamics and processes.

As a steadfast supporter of nascent enterprises, Holcim not only provides financial backing but also amplifies their growth prospects by opening the doors to its global technological resources, seasoned expertise, and operational finesse—a triad that holds the key to scaling up to uncharted heights.

Anchored in an open innovation ecosystem, Holcim champions a global assemblage of startups, fostering a dynamic network to scale up pioneering technologies, propelling the construction industry’s relentless march towards a net-zero emissions horizon.

The Holcim MAQER Startup Ambassador Days brought together a dynamic cohort of our internal startup ambassadors hailing from diverse corners of our organization, fostering an environment brimming with energy and enthusiasm. This distinct event served as a catalyst to delve into the intriguing potential that emerges when collaborating closely with startups, infusing an air of excitement and novelty into our initiatives.

Throughout this event, we embarked on an exploration of the value embedded in aligning with startups, uncovering how such collaborations can leave a tangible mark on our day-to-day operations while simultaneously stirring transformative shifts within the building materials industry. Through a series of interactive workshops, our ambassadors honed their skills in identifying pertinent problem statements that truly resonate with startups’ aspirations and innovative drives. Moreover, we delved into the nuanced intricacies of shepherding startup Proof of Concepts (PoCs), enhancing our capacity to effectively navigate the path from concept to realization.

At its core, this event served as a congregating point for like-minded individuals who share our vision for both innovation and sustainability. Together, we’re pushing boundaries, shaking things up, and creating a brighter future for the build sector and beyond. Our MAQER Ambassador family is constantly growing!

A special thanks goes out to the remarkable team of 27pilots, Johannes Grabowski from Open Bosch, and the entire growing Holcim MAQER Community!

Let’s #BeMAQERs and keep riding the startup wave to turn challenges into mind-blowing opportunities for us, our customers and the planet!

We’re thrilled to share the exciting experience in participating in the Global BSC Workshop, where a part of our MAQER team embarked on a full-day journey alongside the Holcim European Business Services Centers Leadership team at the Google office in Zurich.

Together, they delved into open discussions, generating valuable insights on transforming into a Strategic Business Partner. The workshop also provided an exceptional opportunity to learn from both dynamic startups and innovative minds at Google.

At Holcim MAQER Ventures, our driving force is to ignite change by bridging our business leaders with external ecosystems and impactful technologies. In this inspiring session, we absorbed invaluable lessons from Google, as well as from two leading startups Hypatos, and Beekeeper, gaining insights into rapid idea development, testing, implementation at scale, and cultivating the right cultural and mindset foundations.

Over the course of the day, participants did not only absorbed insights from startups and Google on cultural attributes, work methodologies, and new technologies, assimilating expertise on essential skills such as understanding the digital potential, developing and testing new ideas, and practicing leadership to lead innovation, but they also actively engaged in a rapid ideation session. This hands-on experience fostered an innovative approach to tackling existing challenges, generating out-of-the-box solutions for swift testing and prototyping. Additionally, this encounter seamlessly facilitated connections with startups, providing a fertile ground to trial novel concepts and ideas in collaboration.

A heartfelt thank you to all the speakers, startups, investors and participants who contributed to the resounding success of GroundMAQER Starter 2023. As we move forward, we remain committed to building upon these foundations of sustainable construction, collectively shaping a smarter and greener future for tomorrow.

Holcim takes a monumental leap into the realm of sustainability by investing in Coomtech, an avant-garde cleantech startup.

Coomtech introduces an ingenious kinetic drying technology for raw materials, setting new benchmarks for low emissions. This pioneering innovation orchestrates an extraordinary reduction of up to 75% in CO2 emissions, a quantum leap from traditional drying techniques. This transformative technology ushers in the era of recycled materials, reshaping the landscape of cement and concrete production by diminishing the energy-intensive drying process for such materials.

Coomtech’s innovation springs from its kinetic dryers, designed to delicately extract surface moisture by exerting a gentle shearing force on particle surfaces. The ensuing dry particles seamlessly transition to storage, transportation, or immediate processing. Holcim’s investment will fuel the expansion of Coomtech’s groundbreaking low-emission drying technology across the construction spectrum, encompassing an array of materials spanning from sand to clay and pozzolan.

In an era where sustainability is the ultimate cornerstone, Holcim’s synergy with Coomtech emerges as a beacon of transformative change, promising a more eco-friendly and circular future for the construction landscape.

We proudly announce the conclusion of the second Cohort of our MAQER Garage, as it finished its final round in the vibrant city of Zurich after two unforgettable modules in London and Warsaw!

The MAQER Garage is a digital empowerment program that aims to equip Holcim leaders with the tools to drive digital innovation at Holcim. This second cohort was targeted specifically at a selected group of leaders who are driving the transformation of Holcim’s European lighthouse cement plants and the supply chain area.

The focus is squarely on championing the adoption and further integration of existing technologies in the manufacturing and supply chain area to reshape work methodologies and elevate our operational model.

Throughout the program’s course, participants imbibed an array of essential skills:

• Working user-centered, make use of agile methodologies, understand the power of digital, and scale and connect digital projects to have a sustainable impact on the organization.
• Developing and testing ideas, using design thinking to come up with and test innovation ideas; participants are familiarized with data-driven decision-making techniques to test and refine these ideas.
• Leading innovation introduces participants to a unique understanding and practice of leadership that involves not only hierarchical decision-making but savvy orchestration of persuasion, trust, and power – to successfully lead good new ideas through the organization.

As the MAQER Garage’s second Cohort concludes, we’re setting our sights on a horizon filled with globally scaled innovation and collaboration!

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