Vinci acquires German HVAC company, Balfour Beatty partners with Microsoft

Snapshot

Balfour Beatty invests £7.2M in Microsoft AI partnership, Züblin 3D-prints apartment walls, Vinci acquires German HVAC firm.

New Innovations and Partnerships

AUEQI brings tech-driven structure to India equipment rentals: Karnataka-based AUEQI founder Janardhan Reddy leverages family construction background to build a platform that digitizes equipment rentals, bringing transparency and efficiency to India's fragmented construction equipment market. (constructionworld.com)

Balfour Beatty invests £7.2M in Microsoft AI partnership: Balfour Beatty commits £7.2m over four years to deploy Microsoft 365 Copilot across its operations, automating technical reviews and safety processes while targeting the construction sector's 14-15% productivity gap through AI integration. (constructionnews.com)

Züblin partners with Instatiq for on-site 3D concrete printing: Züblin and Instatiq are 3D-printing apartment building walls on-site in Germany, cutting construction time in half while reducing CO₂ emissions by 20% compared to traditional masonry. (constructionbriefing.com)

Genesys develops AI-driven geospatial engine for urban planning: Genesys creates a smart geospatial engine integrating AI, big data, and IoT to enhance urban planning and infrastructure management in India. (mobilityoutlook.com)

UAE's Space42 partners with Microsoft and Esri for mapping project: Space42, Microsoft, and Esri launch a five-year initiative to create a detailed map of all 54 African nations using satellite data and AI. (thenationalnews.com

Funding Rounds and M&A Activity

Vinci acquires German HVAC specialist: Vinci announces its acquisition of a German HVAC company to enhance its portfolio. (globalconstructionreview.com)

Policy & Regulation Updates

UK

Group formed to standardise fire safety design guidance: A new group has been established by architectural institutes to standardise fire safety guidance across the UK and Ireland. (insidehousing.uk)