"I'm sitting on top of the world" - Bobby Darin

But so is every single one of us. Whether it's on our favourite chair at home, or outside on a bench, we are all sitting on what is the last layer of civilisation.

Built over ancient cities, our modern megalopolis are the creme de la creme when it comes to innovation and city planning.

Or are they?

Packed and polluted, even (or especially) the largest capitals in the world fail to meet the expectations of a younger generation asking for change. Our modern cities carry with them a plethora of problems and outdated solutions, that entrepreneurs have the power to change.

Rethinking the city, Pi labs unites the most brilliant minds of entrepreneurship in its 2024 Growth Programme.

There can only be five

Selected from more than 1,000 applications, the five early-stage startups aim to digitalise and decarbonise the built world, creating sustainable cities fit for generations to come. 

The theme for this year’s 12-week Growth Programme – the 12th to take place since 2015 – is ‘creating sustainable, resilient cities’, with founders focused on groundbreaking innovations across AI, cyber security and climate tech. As the real estate and construction industries face ongoing sustainability and economic challenges, Pi Labs has selected startups for this cohort that provide real solutions for some of our most pressing current industry issues. Reflecting the reality of the world today, on a macro level Pi Labs ultimately aims to catalyse more sustainable, resilient cities, fit for generations to come, through helping these chosen startups to scale their impact commercially, and globally.

In addition to receiving an initial investment from Pi Labs with the possibility of follow-on funding, Growth Programme startups will benefit from access to an unrivalled global ecosystem of tech and real estate professionals, advisers, venture partners, mentors, investors and alumni to support the scaling of their businesses.

Below are the startups from the Pi Labs 2024 Growth Programme:

  • Pathways: An AI-driven sustainability platform founded by former Harvard classmates which enables manufacturers to measure and reduce building material emissions. Recently raised £1.98M in a pre-seed funding round led by Pi Labs
  • Genia: Founded by a seasoned ex-Arup engineer and ex-Amazon AI developers, Genia automatically creates optimal construction engineering drawings with AI-powered generative design, delivering efficiency, speed and performance.
  • Cyb3r Operations: Established on the fundamental principle of risk mitigation and management, Cyb3r Operations is led by a team of information security and high-growth company specialists committed to combatting external cyber security threats facing businesses, including major global construction firms. 
  • Kestrix: Kestrix uses thermography and AI to pinpoint heat loss in residential buildings, informing retrofit plans, pricing, and priorities. It does so by training an algorithm to analyse thermal images obtained through third-party operated drones, acting as the data layer to the retrofit process at scale
  • Sorair: Aiming to embed unmanned aerial vehicles into the logistics and industrial sector, the Sorair team has created an end-to-end physical security solution which combines hardware (such as drones, CCTV cameras, alarms) and software (using computer vision and AI) to reduce human dependency

A Proven Programme

“With sustainability, security, and resilience front of mind for businesses globally, we’ve selected five innovative early stage startups from over 1,000 applicants. These start-ups each have tremendous potential to transform the real estate and construction industries, and in turn cities, become more sustainable and resilient" says Faisal Butt, managing partner and founder of Pi Labs

"This year’s cohort is addressing real world issues through transformational innovations around AI, cyber security, and sustainability."

On launching in 2015, Pi Labs was Europe’s first specialist proptech-focused VC firm. Today, it is the most active venture capital investor in the built environment sector, having invested in more than 80 startups to date. 

Notable Pi Labs alumni who have successfully graduated from Pi Labs’ Growth Programme include LandTech, a platform that uses data analytics to help real estate developers source and due diligence development opportunities; and OfficeRnD, which builds technologies to power the future of flex and hybrid work.

The 2024 Growth Programme will culminate in a Demo Day in May, with this year’s cohort pitching for further investment from Pi Labs’ ecosystem.