Venture activity in the built environment saw a significant year-on-year increase in the second quarter of 2025, with AI and machine learning start-ups accounting for nearly 70% of deals
The latest quarterly venture report from BuiltWorlds shows that overall inflows increased by $1.7bn – or 75.2% – compared with Q2 2024, to hit $3.96bn.
Meanwhile, deal volumes rose by 41% from 113 to 159.
Of these, 110 deals involved start-ups identified as AI or machine learning-driven (ML).
“Both (deal) count and capital inflows are on pace to outperform 2024 levels in 2025,” the report reads, clarifying that the growth is taking place “despite economic headwinds from high interest rates and tighter liquidity.”
This pace is especially impressive considering that 2024 was a record-setting year, both in deal count and inflows, BuiltWorlds said.
Artificial intelligence has been the driving factor behind the year-on-year increase in venture investment activity
Of the $3.96bn invested in built environment technology startups in Q2 2025, $2.71bn, roughly 68%, flowed into companies that are integrating AI/ML into their products or operations.
And while these technologies can be seen popping up throughout the primary built environment technology sectors BuiltWorlds tracks (ie building tech, construction tech and infrastructure tech) one seems to be a better fit for AI (at least at the moment) than the others.
“AI seems to have found solid footing in the built environment and particularly in the construction tech sector, where a majority of AI-related VC funding has ended up,” wrote Max Quertermus, venture and investment senior analyst for BuiltWorlds and the report’s author.
“With a wide range of applications across project management, workforce management, accounting and payments, and advanced equipment and robotics, the sector is ripe with opportunity for AI start-ups.”
The construction tech sector saw more than double the inflows going to building tech and passed the infrastructure tech sector by more than $100m. Still, all three sectors are seeing growth in AI technologies.
“The building tech sector saw relatively lower capital inflows to AI/ML startups than construction and infrastructure tech,” the report reads, “but the deals that it did see accounted for nearly 44% of all deals tracked in the sector.”
Other construction industries are eager to embrace the benefits of AI
In infrastructure tech, while AI is not yet as prominent as it is in construction tech, the appetite for the technology is clearly there.
“In the energy and utilities sector, AI/ML enhances operations through smart grids, predictive maintenance, and the seamless integration of renewable energy,” Quertermus wrote, adding that there are also considerable applications for AI in asset health management across the infrastructure industry.
“AI/ML enables data-driven diagnostics and supports predictive and prescriptive analytics, allowing organisations to anticipate issues and optimise performance.”
The report gives the example of geospatial information systems and mapping as a ripe opportunity for AI/ML integration, referring specially to technologies that process and interpret data.
Whether this influx of interest in AI/ML technologies in the built environment is a result of the spiking excitement over its potential or sustainable interest remains in question, BuiltWorlds said.
But the data shows deal sizes over the last four years appear to be normalising, which could be a sign of what to expect in the future.
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