Volve raises $3M seed for construction AI

Oslo-based construction technology company Volve has raised NOK 30 million, approximately $3 million, in a seed funding round. The investment was led by Skyfall Ventures, with participation from J12, Norrsken Evolve, OBOS Ventures, Antler, Startuplab, and Daniel Kjørberg Siraj, the former CEO of OBOS. Founded in 2024, Volve develops AI software designed to process tender and contract documents for construction projects, aiding contractors in assessing bids, pricing, and project risks.

Herman Smith, co-founder and CEO of Volve, stated the company operates at the intersection of rapid AI development and the complex documentation workflows of construction. "Construction is a project business: you have to win projects to stay in business, but winning on the wrong terms is worse than losing," Smith said. He explained that margins are decided in commercial choices made before ground is broken, across thousands of pages of documents under time pressure.

The Pre-Project Problem

Before a contractor bids on a construction project, tender teams face short deadlines to read dense contracts, drawings, and specifications. What they miss becomes their risk and often their cost. Volve's software reads the full documentation, maps how requirements, scope, and risks connect, and supports the team through the tender process consistently. It helps decide whether to bid, what to price, and which risks to carry.

According to the source, around 80 percent of a project's cost is locked in before the contract is signed. The decisions made in that first stage set everything that follows. Yet, tendering and preconstruction remain the least digitized phase of a European industry representing more than EUR 1.6 trillion in annual investment. It also accounts for nearly one in five public tenders.

Funding and Expansion Plans

The new capital will be used to expand Volve's product for main contractors and public clients, enter the UK and Continental European markets, and develop a data graph. This graph structure connects project scope, requirements, risks, and commercial outcomes across tenders. Smith added that the funding strengthens their position in the Nordics and accelerates international expansion.

Espen Malmo, Managing Partner at lead investor Skyfall Ventures, commented on the investment. "Construction is one of the world's largest verticals without a commercial intelligence layer, and tendering is where margin is won or lost," Malmo said. He described Volve as purpose-built for structuring tender documents into decisions teams can trust and turning project knowledge into an asset.

Traction and Client Impact

Volve already serves main contractors and public clients across the Nordics. The company is reportedly in use by leading contractors in the region and is now working with some of Europe's largest contractors. On a recent public infrastructure tender comprising 213 documents, Volve's software surfaced 20 risk findings and supported the comparison of 73 subcontractor bids.

Emmet King, Founding Partner at investor J12, highlighted the domain-specific opportunity. "The highest-value AI opportunities are emerging in domains where the work is complex, the stakes are high, and generic AI alone isn't enough." King stated. He believes the Volve team, which combines deep domain expertise with technical execution, is well-positioned to define the category.

The founding team includes CEO Herman Smith, a civil engineer with over ten years in construction and preconstruction; CTO Abyl Ikshanov, with deep AI engineering experience; and COO Alf Jørgen Dovland, who brings a commercial background from Capgemini Invent.