Brazil’s Ambar Wants To Automate Construction For End Consumers

Man and his dog doing renovation work at home — The São Carlos-based startup wants to take the stress out of renovation and building processes

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Brazilian construtech Ambar wants to take the hassle out of the millions of consumers across the country who are either building or renovating their homes with an all-in-one automation platform.

The startup founded in 2012 and backed by the likes of Texas Pacific Group, Endeavor Catalyst and e.bricks Ventures is known for its modular systems – dubbed “Lego for construction”, these are packages of items needed for building or renovation work, in areas such as hydraulics – aimed to facilitate and speed up the overall job.

In addition, Ambar’s software operation integrates the stages of construction of a house or an apartment, from the architectural project, through to the purchase of building materials in a marketplace to the smartphone-based management of the actual building work. The platform will get a consumer version in 2020.

“Our software business will scale and the platform will be distributed: we want our technology to reach end users”, says Bruno Balbinot, founder and chief executive at Ambar.

“The stages of a [construction] project involve a lot of uncertainty: we understand that we can bring a lot of science and precision to this journey and make it a harmonious process.”

Ambar’s technology, currently sold to builders and developers, has supported the delivery of more than 300,000 affordable houses and apartments across Brazil. However, the opportunity around providing end consumers with a platform to automate processes related to construction is vast.

According to data from the Brazilian Architecture and Urbanism Council, 54% of Brazilians have already built or renovated property. However, only 15% enlisted an architect or an engineer in the process.

Key issues cited by those who had such experiences include lack of visibility of how much will be spent, as well as lack of knowledge of the amount of material to be purchased or where to find professionals to do the work.

As well as creating a consumer-focused offering, Ambar wants to boost its 400-strong workforce, which is mainly based in São Carlos (88 miles from São Paulo) with nearly a hundred developers. The technology staff will be based at innovation center Onovolab, based in the same city. “In 2020, we will move from our teens into our adulthood”, Balbinot points out.