Meet the Leaplab 2023 edition cohort!

Leaplab 2023 edition overview

Launching on November 30th, 2023, the 2nd edition of the Cemex Ventures Leaplab accelerator program will feature five startups working intensively for 14 weeks on real-scale pilots across nearly 100 Cemex sites in 11 countries. This initiative spans various business sectors, including cement, ready-mix, aggregates, urbanization solutions, and the supply chain.

The Leaplab 2023 cohort will receive support from approximately 80 experts, both from within Cemex and external partners. These experts will play crucial roles in testing and enhancing solutions, providing mentorship, and helping key networking opportunities.

Upon successful completion of the Cemex Ventures Leaplab Program, alumni have the potential to secure Commercial Agreements with one or more Cemex business units. Additionally, positive pilot results may lead to investment opportunities with Cemex Ventures.

Leaplab 2023 edition cohort

We are excited to announce the outstanding, high-potential startups that make up the Leaplab 2023 cohort:

• Introid (Mexico) develops cutting-edge solutions in computer vision and AI (Artificial Intelligence) for industry 4.0, mobility, security, and smart cities.
• Mixteresting (Austria) created a digital mixing master solution that leads in a faster optimization of concrete mixes with lower CO2 and cost using mathematics and AI.
• Movener (Chile) patented electric technology system that turns diesel engines into hybrid which avoids CO2 and other emissions and supports the transition towards electromobility.
• Verusen (United States) offers supply chain intelligence AI-driven platform for materials management and inventory optimization. This solution harmonizes data, reduces duplicates, and ensures MRO replenishment.
• Waterplan (United States) developed an all-in-one climate platform to measure, respond to and report on the organizations increasingly changing water risk in a mission of accelerating the transition to a Water-Secure World.

Apart from expanding their solutions, the global cohort will focus on validating their value propositions. Upon successfully completing the program, they will showcase their results to Cemex’s Executive Board at ‘Demo Day’ 2023.

Technologies being scaled in Leaplab 2023

The 5 selected global startups offer value propositions that address Cemex’s global strategic challenges, with a strong focus on sustainability and a deep connection to artificial intelligence technologies, such as computer vision for safety risk reduction, digital optimization for ready-mix design, electromobility systems for diesel trucks, inventory optimization software, and a platform for water risk assessment and management.

All these innovative startup solutions can be classified into the following 4 categories:

• Industry 4.0
• Electromobility
• Decarbonization
• Water security

Why is Cemex Ventures Leaplab right for you?

Remember that piloting, testing, and scaling your startup can be costly and time consuming, and these barriers are even higher in a traditionally capital-intensive industry like construction. Cemex Ventures Leaplab facilitates this journey connecting  high-potential startups with the extensive resources of Cemex, one of the world’s largest building materials companies.

Here’s why Leaplab is right for you:

REAL SCALE PILOT – Your solution can be validated and scaled through a real-scale co-financed pilot leveraging Cemex’s facilities across the globe and extensive network in the construction industry.

QUALIFIED EXPERT SUPPORT – We count on an unmatched panel of experts and mentors specialized in construction, disruptive business models, and technology.

OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT WITH CEMEX – With Cemex Ventures Leaplab as a powerful milestone in your startup’s journey, there is the opportunity for further engagement with Cemex after the program as either a supplier, or partner.

NETWORK EXPANSION – We aspire to bridge your startup with Cemex’s network, Cemex Ventures’ growth experts, and other disruptive players in the Contech ecosystem.

The benefits are clear, so what are you waiting for? Are you ready to take the #Leap?  We are eager to update you on the advancements of each member in the acceleration program as they take their #Leap! Stay tuned for further details.

Press release

Cemex Ventures announces the cutting-edge startups in its 2023 acceleration program

Madrid, Spain. November 30, 2023 – Cemex Ventures, Cemex’s corporate venture capital and open innovation unit, announced today the start of the 2023 edition of Cemex Venture’s Leaplab, its intensive acceleration program for innovative startups. Cemex Ventures Leaplab seeks to connect with and scale-up high-potential startup solutions focused on solving critical challenges faced by the construction industry.

The startup cohort in the 2nd edition Leaplab Acceleration Program will include Introid (Mexico), Mixteresting (Austria), Movener (Chile), Verusen (United States) and Waterplan (United States), five global startups with solutions related to Industry 4.0, electromobility, decarbonization, and water security. The 2023 cohort will participate in real-scale pilots in close to 100 Cemex sites across 11 different countries during an intensive 14-week period. Over 80 internal and external experts in venture capital, entrepreneurship, and construction will assume roles as mentors, pilot leaders, and master speakers, and assist with solutions testing and enhancement, business advice, educational sessions, and network building.

“Startup acceleration is a key pillar of Cemex’s open innovation strategy since the time to scale the technologies that enable us to build a better future is now,” said Luis Hernández, Executive Vice President of Digital and Organization Development at Cemex. “By combining the disruptive solutions and agility of startups with Cemex’s extensive industry networks and resources, startup acceleration is a vehicle for tangible innovation generation.”

Cemex Ventures Leaplab is an innovation platform for joint experimentation, co-creation, and transformation between disruptive startups and Cemex, a leading construction materials and solutions company. The value propositions selected for scale-up in 2023 focus greatly on sustainability, digitalization, and urbanization, key strategic challenges faced by the global construction industry.

Cemex Ventures Leaplab is a key component of Cemex’s Future in Action sustainability program and its Digital Innovation in Motion ecosystem, which seeks to promote the development and use of digital technologies for the optimization of production, management, and commercial operations in the construction industry. It also serves as an instrument of Cemex’s Urbanization Solutions business to contribute to the development of more sustainable and resilient cities.

About Cemex Ventures

Launched in 2017, Cemex Ventures focuses on helping to solve the main challenges and capitalize on the opportunity areas in the construction ecosystem through sustainable solutions. Cemex Ventures has created an open and collaborative platform to lead the revolution of the construction industry by engaging startups, entrepreneurs, universities, and other relevant actors to tackle the industry’s toughest challenges and shape tomorrow’s value ecosystem. For more information about Cemex Ventures, please visit cemex.growlab.es

About Cemex 

Cemex is a global construction materials company that is building a better future through sustainable products and solutions. Cemex is committed to achieving carbon neutrality through relentless innovation and industry-leading research and development. Cemex is at the forefront of the circular economy in the construction value chain and is pioneering ways to increase the use of waste and residues as alternative raw materials and fuels in its operations with the help of new technologies. Cemex offers cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, and urbanization solutions in growing markets around the world, powered by a multinational workforce focused on providing a superior customer  experience enabled by digital technologies. For more information, please visit: www.cemex.com