Volve Expands Construction Tendering AI Across Europe
Volve, a Norwegian construction technology company, has secured $3 million in seed funding to expand its intelligence platform for construction tendering and preconstruction across Europe.
Volve was founded in 2024 by Herman Smith, Abyl Ikshanov, and Alf Jørgen Dovland and is headquartered in Oslo. The company develops an intelligence platform for contractors and public-sector clients involved in tendering and preconstruction.
Construction Tendering Challenges
Construction tender teams typically work under tight deadlines while reviewing large volumes of contracts, drawings, requirements, and technical specifications. Volve's platform analyses this documentation and maps relationships between requirements, project scope, and potential risks, giving teams a structured view of the information used to prepare bids.
The platform also supports contractors in aligning bids with client evaluation criteria and reviewing offers from subcontractors. According to Volve, around 80% of a project's cost is determined before a contract is signed, making tendering and preconstruction a critical stage for determining project margins and risk.
Industry Digitization Gap
Despite its importance, tendering and preconstruction remain among the less digitized parts of the construction industry. Construction represents more than €1.6 trillion in annual investment across Europe, while construction contracts account for close to one in five public tenders.
Volve's Solution
Volve's platform is designed to support commercial decisions made before construction begins, including whether to bid for a project, how to price it, and how to assess contractual and operational risks. The company is already used by main contractors and public clients across the Nordics and is building its presence in the UK and Continental Europe.
New Funding and Expansion Plans
Alongside the funding round, Volve is rolling out a new graph-based structure designed to retain and connect knowledge across projects. The new capital will be used to deepen Volve's product offering for main contractors and public clients and accelerate its European expansion.
The company plans to position the platform as an intelligence layer for commercial decision-making across tendering and preconstruction. Volve's CEO, Herman Smith, stated that project margins are shaped by commercial decisions made before construction begins, often based on thousands of pages of interconnected documentation reviewed under tight deadlines.
Key Investors
The funding round was led by Skyfall Ventures, with participation from J12, Norrsken Evolve, OBOS Ventures, Antler, and StartupLab. Angel investors also participated, including Daniel Kjørberg Siraj, former CEO of Nordic housing and urban development company OBOS.
