Kaya AI focuses on revolutionising supply chains for data center and mission critical infrastructure projects, two of the most complex and high-stakes verticals in construction. By leveraging artificial intelligence, data analytics and automation, Kaya AI streamlines procurement processes, enabling faster, more efficient, and sustainable project delivery.
The company's formal launch follows its recognition as the winner of the 2024 Construction Startup Competition's Supply Chain category, selected from participants representing more than 80 countries.
"Data centres, infrastructure and other mission critical projects are at the forefront of global growth, yet their supply chains remain riddled with inefficiencies and delays," said Ojonimi Bako, CEO and co-founder of Kaya AI. "Kaya AI's AI-native platform addresses these challenges, reducing the time teams spend from managing procurement through delivery by 80% and ensuring seamless project execution. Backed by leading investors and customers, we're ready to scale our impact and transform these critical industries."
Kaya AI's platform is designed to augment human productivity, empowering teams to accomplish more with fewer resources. Its proprietary AI technology simplifies procurement tracking and automates routine workflows, freeing up team members to focus on high-priority, strategic tasks. By providing real-time lead time tracking, the platform helps teams proactively avoid delays, ensuring critical components are delivered on schedule. AI teammates like "Jarvis" act as an always-on assistant, centralising communication, automating tasks and delivering real-time intelligence. This powerful combination enables teams to work smarter, not harder, achieving better outcomes with fewer resources.
"I've spent my career helping to organise the world's information, and construction remains one of the last and most critical industries to digitise. 75% of the world's infrastructure needed by 2050 hasn't been built yet," said Nicholas Selz, president and co-founder of Kaya AI.
Kaya AI is currently installed with some of the nation's largest general contractors, helping to manage billions of dollars in construction projects.
"Kaya AI is redefining how construction supply chains are managed, offering a level of precision and intelligence that the industry has long needed," said Phil Lawson-Shanks, chief innovation officer at Aligned Data Centers.
The round was ed by 53 Stations, Suffolk Technologies and Soma Capital, with additional backing from Barclays Black Formation Investments (BBFI) managed by Zeal Capital Partners, RXR, Mantis VC, Virta Ventures and other top investors.
Kaya AI was one of seven companies selected for Suffolk Technologies' BOOST 4 program, an accelerator connecting transformative built-world startups with industry experts and partners.
"Kaya AI tackles a critical challenge in construction: supply chain management," said Parker Mundt, vice president at Suffolk Technologies, a leading venture capital platform investing in startups revolutionising the $12T built environment sector. "Their platform's potential was evident when they won the 'People's Choice Award' during BOOST Demo Day." Post-program, Suffolk, one of Suffolk Technologies' industry partners, adopted Kaya AI, deploying it across projects to streamline procurement. On one project, it reduced a three-month process to one week, improved lead time accuracy by 90%, and cut procurement tracking time by 80%.
Added Jason Pritzker, co-founder and managing partner of 53 Stations, "At 53 Stations and The Pritzker Organization, we look for transformative technology partners in spaces we know well. Through our partnership with Lithko Contracting and STV, we experience first-hand the difficulties and inefficiencies of material procurement for construction from preconstruction through project completion. We believe Kaya AI is well-positioned to help address these inefficiencies through simple-to-use, AI-driven software. We are excited to partner with Ojonimi, Nick and the entire Kaya AI team."
Support from Kaya AI's early investors is fueling growth by accelerating its native AI product development and solutions, expanding its engineering and operations teams, and launching marketing efforts to reach more customers and drive market adoption. Its expanded group of investors includes: 4DX Ventures, TO Ventures, Optimist Ventures, Refashiond Ventures, Timon Capital, BFF and BlueImpact.
