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Find a co-founder for your construction startup

Construction startups, sometimes called contech, focus on the building site itself: planning, progress tracking, crew and equipment management, safety, materials purchasing, reuse and waste management, building information modelling or new construction methods, whereas proptech is more about the use and sale of real estate.

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In short

To find a co-founder for a construction startup, publish your project for free on EasyCofounder stating the stage of the building process you are targeting (design, preparation, execution, materials, safety, waste) and the missing profile, often a construction professional for a technical founder or the other way round, then test your solution on a first site.

In this sector, field knowledge is decisive. The founding team benefits from bringing together a former site manager, engineer or tradesperson who knows the real constraints of a building site with a technical profile able to build a tool that is simple to use on site, often from a phone.

On EasyCofounder, describe the problem you are solving, your first conversations with construction companies and the role on offer, then meet construction professionals, developers and salespeople used to the building trade who want to join a new project.

In the UK, the Building Safety Act and the new building safety regime have increased expectations around record keeping and accountability on certain projects, which has opened room for contech tools that track information, approvals and changes across the life of a building, provided they fit how sites really work.

A strong team pairs a developer who can build reliable mobile tools for low connectivity with a co-founder who has run sites or worked for a main contractor, and a seller familiar with how contractors, subcontractors and clients split budgets and responsibilities.

Building a Construction startup: what matters

  • Users out in the field

    Site managers, workers and tradespeople work with gloves, in noise and sometimes without signal, and a product that ignores these conditions is unlikely to be adopted, hence the importance of testing on real sites.

  • Insurance, standards and liability

    A new method or material can raise questions of construction insurance, standards and the liability of each party, topics to check very early with specialists and the relevant bodies in your country.

  • Very diverse customers

    Large groups, small builders, tradespeople, developers, public clients and engineering firms do not buy in the same way, and a co-founder who knows their decision processes helps choose a realistic first target.

  • Safety duties on site

    Construction work in Great Britain falls under the CDM Regulations and HSE oversight, with equivalent rules in Ireland enforced by the HSA, so any product touching site safety or design responsibilities should be checked with specialists.

  • Business models

    Software subscriptions per project or per user, fees tied to project value, marketplaces for materials, equipment or labour with a commission, or hardware such as sensors sold with a service, adoption often starts with one contractor before spreading through its supply chain.

  • Industry networks

    Build UK, CITB, the Construction Industry Federation in Ireland and the community around the UK BIM Framework are useful to understand industry priorities and meet professionals ready to test new tools.

Find your co-founder in 4 steps

  1. 1

    Create your free profile

    Describe your skills, your availability and what you bring to a founding team.

  2. 2

    Publish your project

    Say which role you are looking for (CTO, CEO, CMO…), the commitment expected and the equity on offer, in Construction.

  3. 3

    Let the matching work

    Filter talent by skill and location, or get suggestions of compatible profiles from the AI matching.

  4. 4

    Talk, then meet

    Chat through the built-in messaging, test your collaboration on a first project and put your agreement in writing in a shareholders’ agreement.

Frequently asked questions

What co-founder does a construction startup need?

If you are technical, look for someone from the building site, a site manager, engineer or tradesperson, who knows the teams’ daily work. If you come from construction, look for a developer able to build a robust tool that is simple to use on site.

What is the difference between contech and proptech?

Contech covers the design and construction of buildings, the site, materials and construction companies, while proptech covers the sale, management and use of property, although some projects touch on both.

How can I test a solution on a building site?

Offer a trial limited to one site or one crew, with a motivated contact and measurable goals, for example the time spent preparing a report, then use the results to convince other companies.

Where can I find a co-founder for a construction project?

Publish your project for free on EasyCofounder stating the stage of the building process you target and the skills you expect, then extend your search to civil engineering schools, trade federations and industry fairs.

Should a contech startup sell to main contractors or subcontractors?

Main contractors can impose a tool across many sites but decide slowly, while subcontractors and trades adopt faster but have small budgets, so choose based on where your product saves the most time.

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