Startup of the Year

Blue Rhine Contracting is a UAE-based contracting company specialising in the construction and delivery of boutique luxury villas and infrastructure works, including projects for major operators such as ENOC.

The company operates in an environment where expectations for quality, speed, and coordination are extremely high, and where multiple stakeholders must align to achieve successful outcomes.

A key challenge for Blue Rhine has been delivering numerous projects simultaneously while maintaining programme certainty, cost control, and consistent workmanship. Over the past two years, the organisation has addressed this challenge by introducing digital systems and more structured ways of working across finance, procurement, workforce management, and site operations.

Through the implementation of Oracle NetSuite, digital approval procedures, real-time reporting, and improved planning visibility, teams are able to track progress accurately, respond to issues earlier, and maintain stronger communication between office and site.

ChatPM is an AI-driven project management startup addressing a critical challenge in the construction and infrastructure industry: the complexity of managing projects with fragmented data, manual reporting, and reactive decision-making.

In today's projects, multiple stakeholders, tight timelines, and constant risks lead teams to rely on disconnected tools and time-consuming updates. ChatPM transforms this landscape by deploying intelligent AI agents that centralise project information and provide real-time insights across scope, cost, schedule, risk, meetings, actions, and issues.

Acting as virtual project management assistants, ChatPM allows teams to interact with project data through natural language. Users can describe, store, and modify project aspects using an AI-powered chatbot.

Rather than chasing reports or reacting to issues post-factum, project leaders gain early visibility into risks and performance trends, allowing for quicker decision-making and improved coordination, ultimately minimising delays.

Designed for complex environments where governance and transparency are vital, ChatPM employs a Human-in-the-Loop approach, ensuring AI enhances professional judgment. By integrating domain expertise with responsible AI, ChatPM fosters a shift from reactive to predictive, data-driven project management for more efficient and resilient outcomes.

Elev8 Architects is a digitally native architectural and construction supervision startup founded in 2025, and established with an ambition to redefine how design and delivery are executed across the built environment. From inception, Elev8 embedded AI, BIM and automation into its core operating model, positioning technology not as a support function but as a strategic business driver.

The company delivers architectural, master planning and construction supervision services across the UAE and GCC, with Asia Pacific delivery capability through its Manila studio. Since launch, Elev8 has secured 15 projects across mixed-use, residential, commercial and large-scale master planning developments, including repeat clients and framework agreements with leading developers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Elev8’s proposition combines design excellence with data-driven workflows, enabling faster decision-making, improved coordination and measurable gains in efficiency and quality. Its integrated digital model spans the full project lifecycle - from AI-driven concept development and BIM automation to digital site supervision and real-time project governance.

By building a scalable, technology-led delivery platform from day one, Elev8 is a growth-oriented startup designed to meet the evolving needs of complex regional developments.

Tessium is an AI-powered document intelligence platform, purpose-built for the construction and design industry.

It acts as a secure, internal AI search and reasoning layer that connects to a company’s existing project files, emails, drawings, specifications, BOQs, and contracts - turning fragmented information into instant, structured answers.

Unlike generic AI tools, Tessium is designed specifically for the realities of the built environment, where teams operate across thousands of documents, constant revisions, and strict commercial and contractual risk.

Tessium allows users to ask natural language questions across PDFs, Excel files, Word documents, and email correspondence, while maintaining full traceability back to source documents. The platform supports high-value workflows, such as RFP responses, tender analysis, scope gap identification, specification extraction, drawing comparisons, claims preparation, and chronology of events creation.

It also generates outputs such as comparison tables, summaries, draft emails, and structured schedules, reducing manual effort and risk.

Tessium is currently used by contractors, consultants, and specialist suppliers across the Middle East and Europe, helping teams save time, improve decision quality, and reduce commercial exposure without disrupting existing systems or processes.

Trase is a GCC-born construction management platform transforming how developers and contractors run projects. Built between Delaware, Qatar, and Egypt, Trase digitises field operations, centralises documentation, and cuts rework by up to 35% - enabling smarter, faster, and more transparent project delivery.

The platform is already deployed across major projects in Qatar, KSA, and Egypt, serving clients such as Hill International, NewGiza, and Mowasalat. In 2025, Trase surpassed $2m in annual recurring revenue with more than $6m contracted for the next four years.

The system processes over one million documents and site updates each month, replacing traditional paper-heavy workflows with real-time data.

Trase’s mission is to set a new standard for construction efficiency in the region by combining practical on-site workflows with modern software design. With a local entity now established in Qatar and expansion underway in Saudi Arabia, the team is focused on scaling alongside the region’s fast-growing infrastructure pipeline.

Founded by Rowan Alawi and Hady Elborolocy - leaders with over 40 years of combined experience in construction and technology - Trase brings a local, field-driven approach to solving one of the region’s most critical operational challenges.

TruBuild is a construction procurement intelligence platform addressing costly project changes caused by misalignment, fragmented documentation, and manual tender evaluation.

Construction teams manage large volumes of RFPs, contracts, and tender submissions under tight timelines and governance requirements. These workflows are often manual, inconsistent, and difficult to audit, leading to delays, disputes, and cost overruns.

TruBuild addresses this gap by adding an intelligence layer on top of existing procurement systems. It helps teams compare proposals, surface trade-offs, and generate structured, evidence-backed explanations for decisions.

Using construction-trained artificial intelligence, the platform analyses technical, commercial, and contractual documentation in minutes, identifying risks, deviations, and gaps against client requirements.

In practical terms, this reduces manual synthesis, reduces evaluation cycles, and lowers the operational burden on procurement teams, while improving consistency, transparency, and auditability. Validated through pilot projects with developers and public-sector organisations, TruBuild supports digital transformation by enabling faster, fairer, and more accountable procurement decisions.

Vavetek AI is a B2B ConTech SAAS startup developing Copilot software to help building developers, turnkey contractors, and principal design engineers to audit and optimise the building designs at faster speeds to save the cost of construction within deadlines.

The software comprises:

BAMROC: This automatically resolves MEP vs MEP and MEP vs Structural clashes while preserving design intent, for fast, large-scale coordination.

HUBAROC: A guided clash-resolution software. Engineers can select and resolve clashes within a single service domain (M/E/P) by choosing the resolution method - move, bend, or both. It is best suited when MEP systems are in separate Revit files. Users can select and resolve clashes one-by-one, in groups, or via drag-and-drop, with full undo and history control.

We are entering Startup of the Year to demonstrate how BAMROC & HUBAROC can disrupt inefficient, pre-construction coordination, and tackle construction waste caused by poor design. With adoption in the Middle East and successful deployments on live projects, we aim to highlight how it reduces costs, time, and rework for large-scale built environment projects.