Josh Graham has had a lifelong fascination with climate change. It began with a passion for nature and when – at age seven – he heard about climate change on the news, he asked his mum what he could do to help. This led him to a degree in climate science and on to found EHAB, a pioneering startup focused on making the construction industry more resilient against the unpredictable wrath of weather. “Climate change is something I’ve been obsessed with for over a decade now. After my degree in climate science opened my eyes to the reality we all face I knew that I wanted to dedicate my career to this problem. Making construction a more resilient industry is key to helping it build the huge amount of infrastructure we need to build a more sustainable world. It felt a natural place to start a business.” Josh shares.
The vision
The construction industry faces immense challenges due to its susceptibility to weather-related delays. Traditional methods of managing these risks are often based on gut-feel and outdated data, leaving room for significant improvement. Josh realised the need for a sophisticated solution, “I set out to build a platform that would give the construction industry all the tools they need to radically change how they approach this risk, ranging from planning, to contracts, to insurance.”
Partnerships and pilots
From day one Josh knew that partnerships and pilots were going to be integral to his success. He successfully applied for an Innovate UK grant and plugged into a network of co-creators. “We worked with BAM Nuttall and Ferrovial Construction, both industry leading contractors who are committed to innovation. We worked with Clyde and Co, global solicitors who pride themselves at being at the forefront of smart contracting. We worked with Connected Places and Digital Catapult, both groups of researchers and innovators who have helped create some fantastic outputs on top of the tech that we built.”
Today EHAB is live with five of the top 15 construction firms and working on HS2. Colin Evison, Head of Innovation at BAM Nuttall, says,
“Agile and fresh partners such as EHAB can objectively examine the way we do things in the industry and work on how to overcome the embedded behaviours and practices that are stifling productivity growth.”
These partners continue to provide valuable feedback that help EHAB refine its product. Each successful deployment reinforced the platform’s credibility and showcased its ability to significantly mitigate weather-related risks. “Every customer we’ve won has been a breakthrough because they’ve always helped us unearth another useful nugget of value that the tool can bring,” Josh explains.
Securing venture funding
Securing their first round of venture capital investment was a pivotal moment for EHAB that set the stage for their subsequent growth.
In May 2020 EHAB closed a £320k Pre-Seed raise led by Insurtech Gateway, alongside Startup Funding Club and Lan to Capital. Richard Chattock, CEO of Insurtech Gateway, recalls, “The EHAB team had already demonstrated a step change in quantifying and mitigating weather risk in construction. Their first fundraise validated the progress they had made.”
EHAB went on to raise an additional £950k from Insurtech Gateway and LEFA Enterprises, alongside Portfolio Ventures. Will Brooks, Founder of Portfolio Ventures, highlights the investment potential, “When we first met Josh we were super impressed with his passion to build an end-to-end project lifecycle solution for a massive industry problem. EHAB’s platform was already being rolled out by huge industry players. A really exciting place to be given the converging pressures piling onto the construction industry.” When I asked Will about the potential market size he said,
“Construction is currently an £11 trillion market size. In 2020 weather risk was 9.45% of that now it is between 12-17% of the value. This exposure is truly global.”
The insurance product
Very early on in the discovery process EHAB realised an insurance product would be a natural fit for their platform. Insurers in construction face significant losses because of weather, and there’s an enormous insurance gap when it comes to delay risk in construction.
Josh says, “We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have early stage investors like Insurtech Gateway and some other key advisors who have been with us since the beginning. We’re now partnered with Arbol, another insurtech, to deliver a one of its kind insurance product for construction companies. We still have a long way to go, but working with other key lead underwriters who have shown faith in and an understanding of how our solution works gives me hope we will continue to push forward.”
Scaling up
EHAB is poised for significant growth. The next steps involve scaling the platform, launching their insurance product and expanding its reach across more projects globally. “Our platform and insurance product aim to close those gaps enabling these companies to remain profitable, even as weather conditions worsen and become more extreme for all of us,” Josh explains.
EHAB’s journey is a testament to the power of innovation and collaboration. By addressing one of the construction industry’s most pressing challenges, and working closely with key partners, EHAB has made extraordinary progress. Josh’s vision for the future is clear: “Infrastructure on land and sea is exposed to weather at every stage of its lifecycle. From design, through operation, and demolition. EHAB believes optimization through data, modelling, machine learning, and good products can prevent those costs from rising and actually enable companies to keep making a profit, whilst accelerating the journey toward net zero.”
EHAB’s pioneering work in weather risk management for construction is more than a business success story; it’s a call to action. It highlights the urgent need for innovative solutions in the face of growing climate risks and showcases the transformative power of insurtech.
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