Technology & Innovation

Suffolk Technologies Hosts Boost Program ‘Demo Day’

Parker Mundt, operating director of Suffolk Technologies, kicks off activities at Boost Program Demo Day.

Boston – Suffolk Technologies, the venture capital and technology investment arm of real estate and construction enterprise Suffolk, recently hosted its 2nd annual Boost Demo Day at its headquarters in Roxbury.

Suffolk Technologies selected six startup finalists from more than 100 applicants, 20% more applicants than last year. The startups collaborated with Suffolk operational experts, consultants, industry leaders and academics to fine tune their cutting-edge solutions and showcase them to potential investors on Demo Day.

The Boost program is an intense six-week program that brings together promising technology startup founders committed to addressing construction industry challenges, expanding their networks and raising funding for future growth. Applications for the 2021 program included startups offering solutions across the product development stages, with an emphasis on green building, robotics, design, supply chain, marketplace and fintech spaces. The finalists included WINT – Water Intelligence, Soil Connect, NYFTY, Felux, Moxion, and Rugged Robotics.

“We take tremendous pride in offering a program designed to accelerate innovation and growth in the construction industry, an industry that can oftentimes be slow to evolve. We have been excited to work alongside these entrepreneurial innovators and our program partners to solve the industry’s greatest challenges and introduce more productivity and efficiency gains to the built world,” said Parker Mundt, operating director of Suffolk Technologies.

Suffolk Technologies partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Real Estate, Bain Capital Ventures, RXR Realty, Liberty Mutual Insurance, HILTI, Ninefour Ventures, Romulus Capital, Procore Technologies, EquipmentShare and OpenSpace. Leaders from these organizations participated in brainstorm sessions and discussions with the startups; most have plans to invest in the startups.

Boost Demo Day finalists from last year collectively raised more than $100 million in capital to accelerate their growth plans.

“The Boost program was instrumental to WINT’s growth plans. We had unwavering support from the program partners and Suffolk’s operational teams, and the rigorous and structured Boost programming allowed us to be very effective and more efficient in just six weeks. Having completed this program, we are excited to grow our operation and drive the reduction of water damage on projects throughout the country. I recommend this program to other founders in the construction tech space who want to make their dream for an innovative solution a reality,” said Alon Geva, CEO of WINT.

The Boost program consisted of lectures and panel discussions driven by Suffolk leaders, MIT professors and Suffolk Technologies portfolio company founders; dedicated time with the Suffolk CoLab Construction Solution Directors who will partner with the finalists and potentially test their solutions on Suffolk project sites; and Demo Day that allows finalists to share their solutions with industry influencers and investors.