Hitachi Construction Machinery Americas (HCMA) and its parent, Hitachi Construction Machinery, recently held their own version of “Shark Tank” as construction technology start-ups pitched ideas with the hope of collaboration with the companies.
At the minimum, the winners will join Hitachi’s stand at Bauma in Munich, Germany, April 7-13, 2025.
In best-case scenarios, it’s conceivable Hitachi could formally partner with the companies, invest in the technologies, or buy the firms.
Each of the three winners, Sodex Innovations, Teleo, and Veristart Technologies, brought unique products before Hitachi’s panel of judges.
The winning Sodex product equips machines with a system that enables capturing terrain in real time. This allows job sites to keep track of their progress and report on it without the need to pause the job site for a survey.
Essentially, they create digital twins of construction sites by equipping machines with laser scanners and cameras, giving construction machinery digital eyes. With this solution, any machine operator can become a surveyor while on the job.
Ralf Pfefferkorn, Sodex Innovations CEO and co-founder said the technology works faster than drones. As of now, the cost is 50,000 Euro per unit, or just over $52,000 with yearly licensing thereafter.
Another winner, Teleo, pitched supervised autonomy for machines as a brand-agnostic solution that allows operators to operate multiple machines simultaneously from an office-like environment, even when those machines are thousands of miles away.
By Q1 2025, VP of sales Mark Piotto said the company will have 36 machines working by supervised autonomy throughout North America, 10 in Australia, and 7 in Europe and the Middle East.
Veristart Technologies won for a machine access solution. It’s targeted at preventing machinery theft by providing fleet managers with better control of their machines.
The product is a cloud application, a mobile application, and a hardware device that works together to give fleet managers precise control over who can operate their fleet. With this product, machine operators will receive an electronic key on their smartphone that allows them to start the vehicle.
"We are adding control to heavy equipment," said Craig Hannam, Veristart Technologies CEO and co-founder. "We want to make sure that when an operator is operating a machine they are both authorized and properly trained to use the machine.”
One hundred twenty-seven start-ups submitted proposals, and nine start-ups pitched their ideas for the "finals." The panel of judges was made up of start-up CEOs, venture capitalists, and Hitachi executives.
In addition to the Hitachi executives, guest judges included Cutler Knupp, Haskell (Dysruptek) VP of Strategy & Technology Investment (managing director), Kaustubh Pandya, Brick & Mortar Ventures Partner, and Satish Padmanabhan, DIMAAG-AI CEO.
Hitachi Construction Machinery said in a statement that it will continue to engage in open innovation with start-ups and aims to incorporate these innovations into their solutions at all points of contact with their customers.
In addition, it has been working on open technology and product development through investments and collaboration in venture capital funds and start-ups.
"Hitachi Construction Machinery is traditionally known as a company that provides mechanical items, but
we are pivoting to also being a true technological solutions provider," said Masahiro Yamada, Hitachi Construction Machinery VP of New Business Creation.
"For us, that means collaborating with innovative startups," Yamada said. “This event is very important to us because it will show the world that Hitachi Construction Machinery is more than just excavators, wheel loaders, and mining trucks.
"We are also a technology company that listens to their customers’ needs and provides wholistic solutions.”
