AF Gruppen and OBOS to establish joint venture in building and construction – Construct Venture AS

OSLO, 27-Apr-2018 — /EuropaWire/ — AF Gruppen and OBOS are putting up 80 million to establish this joint venture initiative in building and construction – Construct Venture AS. The first investment for Construct Venture is being made in the company Spacemaker. This Norwegian startup company has developed a solution based on AI to optimize the use of land in property development. Both OBOS and AF are customers of Spacemaker and have actively contributed in the testing phase of the product’s development.

Spacemaker is the first investment object but in the long run, the goal for Construct Venture will be to build up a portfolio of growth companies that are changing the way the industry works.

– We are very pleased to have AF and OBOS as investors in Spacemaker. Their significant presence in the property and construction industry is extremely valuable to the development of our current and future products, says CEO Håvard Haukeland in Spacemaker.

Knowledge, customers and capital
With an emphasis on start-up companies, both AF Gruppen and OBOS are helping to create a smarter and more future-oriented supplier industry in building and construction that can also help to ensure the industry’s competitiveness. The collaboration is industrially rooted and is based on smart capital, where AF and OBOS in addition to their financial strength can contribute to industry expertise and well-functioning systems. At the same time, the companies made their projects available for testing of the technology and trial of their concepts on a large scale.

– Not only will Construct Venture be an attractive investor for start-up businesses in our sector, but as major players in the industry, we also want to contribute our industrial competence in the value chain. This will give young and exciting business concepts aimed at our sector a unique opportunity, says Group managing Director Daniel Siraj of OBOS.

The industry’s first corporate venture
Construct Venture is aimed primarily at companies that are in the early commercialization phase, with a product or service in the final phase of testing as well as a definite customer base. The area is not limited to Nordic companies. Parties in other geographic regions that see potential in collaboration with Norwegian participants will also be considered. The assumption is that the investment can contribute to a better building and construction industry, making the AF and OBOS’ initiative unique.

– Our cooperation with OBOS becomes an important source of funding for business ideas that are necessary to drive the industry forward in a better and more sustainable direction. In AF we have used our curiosity for over 30 years to find good solutions to streamline and refine our work. With today’s technology development, we also believe that many solutions need to come from outside, and Construct Venture will contribute so that solutions like this are realized, says Group Managing Director Morten Grongstad of AF Gruppen.

The entrepreneurial environment in the team
As part of the innovation work, OBOS and AF Gruppen have also entered a partnership with StartupLab, an entrepreneurial collective consisting of more than 350 entrepreneurs from 80 startup companies. Here, startup companies help each other to succeed while providing larger more established companies with the opportunity to speed up their innovation processes. AF and OBOS represent the building, construction and property sectors in this environment, and the partnership will also give Construct Venture the opportunity to identify relevant investment objects early on.

SOURCE: AF Gruppen

For more information:
EVP Andreas Jul Røsjø, AF Gruppen andreas.rosjo@afgruppen.no / +47481 96 998
EVP Morten Aagenæs, OBOS, m.aagenes@obos.no / +47 908 82 026
CEO Håvard Haukeland, Spacemaker, havard@spacemaker.ai / +47 926 21 580