Zurich-based ConstructionTech Scalera, an ETH Zürich spin-off using AI to modernise construction procurement, today announces a €5.7 million Seed round to fuel its expansion into Germany and Austria.
The funding round was led by firstminute capital, Speedinvest, and a group of strategic angels from Google, unicorn startups, and the construction world.
“The opportunity is enormous, but the system is broken,” said Leonardo Reinhard, Co-founder and CEO of Scalera. “To win public tenders today, companies still comb through thousand-page PDFs, copy line items into Excel, and email suppliers one by one. We started Scalera to end that madness and get vital projects moving again — faster, more affordably, and with total transparency.”
Founded in 2023 by Leonardo Reinhard (CEO), Sven Affeltranger (CCO), and Federico Gossi (CTO), Scalera is an AI-powered tendering and procurement platform for the construction sector. It automates the parsing, matching, and coordination behind construction bids — public or private.
By eliminating procurement chaos, Scalera looks to empower governments and builders to move faster, reduce costs, and collaborate better across the entire construction supply chain.
Sam Endacott, Partner at Firstminute Capital, says: “LLMs and Generative AI are one of the most exciting platform shifts in technology, and we believe much of the commercial value will be built by teams focused on verticalised use cases in sectors which have yet to fully undergo digital transformation. The construction sector is a perfect example of this, which is why we are so excited to partner with the Scalera team to reimagine how their customers can analyse tenders, find suppliers, request quotes, and manage bids.”
According to data provided to EU-Startups, every year, governments around the world spend €11.5 trillion on procurement. In the EU alone, over 250,000 public bodies allocate approximately €1.7 trillion annually across contracts for roads, housing, energy, transport, and other public works.
Scalera argues that much of this is driven through antiquated procurement processes that frustrate both suppliers and contractors.
Scalera’s platform automates the “most painful parts of procurement“. It ingests lengthy, unstructured tender documents, parses them using AI, and maps items to standard taxonomies like NPK, BKP, VOB , and ÖNorm. Suppliers upload their catalogs and Scalera matches their products to relevant tenders.
This supposedly accelerates bidding cycles — from three days to just half a day — while reducing errors and unlocking new collaboration between buyers and suppliers.
Andreas Schwarzenbrunner, General Partner at Speedinvest, says: “The construction and real estate sector, the largest in Europe, is still stuck in outdated, cumbersome, and inefficient processes. We believe AI has the power to bring construction companies to the next level by automating essential mid- and back-office functions, improving overall efficiency and profitability. Scalera’s platform has already delivered game-changing results for numerous clients, and we are excited to back Leo, Sven, and Federico in their next phase of development, as they lead the construction industry’s adoption of AI.”
Scalera has reportedly processed over €2.1 billion in tenders and now covers 65% to 75% of construction contractors in Switzerland. Its expansion into Germany and Austria is also already underway.
Backed by 74% MoM growth, Scalera’s product aims to establish itself as the preferred procurement engine for the DACH region’s builders.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/05/swiss-startup-scalera-raises-e5-7-million-to-bring-ai-to-public-construction-procurement-and-get-europe-building-again/
