Acelab — Simplifying Construction Workflows
By: Stephen Braunewell
Tags: Construction, Building Materials, Real Estate, Building Construction, Architecture

Acelab — Simplifying Construction Workflows

Making construction workflows efficient from design to execution by connecting architects with building products.

The Problem

Finding the right building products for a construction project of any size is difficult. Whether you are a homeowner remodeling your house, or an architect working on a large development, finding the right materials is tough due to the archaic product catalog systems and a surprising lack of digital information.

What The Company Does

Acelab has created a revolutionary information marketplace where you can search, select, and spec building products in seconds. At the core of the platform is an algorithm that aggregates all the relevant metrics about building products into a streamlined user experience. This data is complemented by user testimonials and eco-sustainability metrics.

The Market

To enable informed decision making, acelab aims to provide detailed and up-to-date information for an extensive range of building products. This requires both a high quality and quantity of data. At the moment, this does not exist in the market. Acelab combines the best of both worlds by aiming to provide qualitative, transparent data for a large quantity of manufacturers. That way, they can offer many services that their competitors cannot such as smart search filters, real-time visualizations, side-by-side comparison, digital project files, product customization, and automated documentation.

Business Model

Acelab revenue is based on the sale of information in a two-sided marketplace. The main value proposition for the manufacturers is product exposure. In order to monetize acelab, they plan to implement a subscription model for manufacturers in order to display their products on the platform. Data analytics will be made available to the manufacturers to show the traction of their products. The value proposition for the architecture firms is they gain access to more products in less time. This stimulates creativity at the same time as increasing productivity. It liberates junior architects to devote their time to the design process instead of engaging every day in the same repetitive tasks.

Traction

Today, acelab is a team of 11 people, all working remotely from Cambridge, New York, San Francisco, Belgium, and Belarus. The team currently has a wait list of over 5,000 construction professionals, they won the Harvard Real Estate Venture Competition and MIT Design X a couple months ago.

Founding Team Background

acelab spun out of a research project at Harvard and MIT and was co-founded by Vardhan Mehta and Dries Carmeliet. They are both licensed architects and entrepreneurs. Originally from a small town in India, Vardhan studied and practiced architecture in New York. Currently, Vardhan is studying urban design at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. After graduating from University of Leuven, Dries practiced architecture and engineering in Belgium. Dries is currently studying urbanism at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

What They Need Help With

Acelab is looking to expand the tech team with full stack, front-end and back-end developers. They are also always looking for intros to construction professionals. Connect with the acelab Team.

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