Sometimes startups take a long time to find traction. Other times, opportunity comes right out of the gate. Such is the case for Materian.ai.
After formally launching in late June, Materian.ai, an artificial intelligence-backed startup based in Albuquerque, secured a spot in the Techstars Boulder Accelerator — a three-month program that aims to fuel early-stage startups through seed capital and mentor networking. The accelerator kicked off July 10, a few weeks after Materian.ai got off the ground.
Zeke Chavez, a University of New Mexico graduate and serial entrepreneur, and cofounder Rafael Ferreira, a software engineer based in São Paulo, Brazil, formed Materian.ai to help solve a problem in the modern construction industry — effectively bidding for work. The pair want to build a platform that uses machine learning to optimize the bid process for general contractors and other companies in the construction industry.
The startup is one of 12 selected for the Boulder accelerator's 2023 cohort. It's the original program run by Techstars, a large pre-seed startup accelerator that organizes dozens of general and industry-specific programs worldwide. Techstars' website touts 3,715 graduate companies from its accelerators, with startups raising around $1 million on average coming out of the programs.
What does landing a place in the prestigious accelerator mean for Materian.ai? It's the network, Chavez told Albuquerque Business First.
"There are people all around the world that I can go talk to, places I can travel and have a place to stay, people that know advisors, potential hires, investors, etcetera," he said. "That's really the power of Techstars. It's one of the most expansive startup networks in the world."
There's a lot of data and other information companies in the construction industry have but might not know how to use most effectively. That's where Materian.ai would come in, Chavez said, by running that information through AI-powered software to analyze bids, compare potential projects and manage bid-related risks, according to the startup's website.
Although Chavez didn't detail when Materian.ai's minimum viable product could be ready, he said the startup wants "to move pretty quick."
"Our goal is to start that kind of pipeline in the coming weeks to months," he said. "Whenever you're starting out you want to start very simple."
Chavez and Ferreira began to conceive the idea for Materian.ai while consulting and building software for different businesses. When Chavez started talking with local contractors about recent trends in AI technology, those firms' interest was piqued.
For example, Chavez said he was invited to chat about AI and machine learning tech with one of those local contractors.
"I go by there just expecting to have a one-on-one with the owner," he told Business First. "Lo and behold, they wheeled out the red carpet for us. We were talking to I think 10 staff, different leaders from parts of their organization. They were so excited about new technology."
That conversation — and others over the past several months — made Chavez and Ferreira aware of the gap machine learning could fill in construction bidding processes.
"We started realizing, 'Hey, there are some patterns around here that we can leverage to enable them to make better decisions, giving them an in-house data scientist that they otherwise wouldn't have'," Chavez said.
He told Business First Materian.ai is prepared to scale its staff size and marketing in the coming months and added that the startup "already [has] some folks lined up that are ready to go when we are." Right now, Materian.ai's team is just Chavez and Ferreira.
Being a part of the Techstars Boulder Accelerator also gives Materian.ai some pre-seed funding to help scale, although Chavez didn't say how much money is available. He did add venture funding is on Materian.ai's radar.
"When you go into Techstars, you're primarily going down that route," Chavez said. "So for us, the pathway forward is going to be raising capital."
Techstars Boulder wraps up Oct. 11 with a demo day for the 12 startups in the program.
