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  • LH Accelerator: Building Innovation Together

    • LH Accelerator: Building Innovation Together

    13 December 2018

    Innovation is necessary for our industry to provide solutions to global issues such as climate change and urbanization. Together with our partners Sika and China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), we launched the LH Accelerator. Through an open innovation approach, we invited start-ups and partners from around the world to work collaboratively and to combine new ideas of start-ups with the proven experience of major players. The ambition: to tackle today’s challenges along the entire construction value chain.

     

    Taking new ideas to the next level

    Around the world construction sites still operate fairly traditionally. Too frequently, for example, construction projects run past the deadline and over budget and digitization is still not as integrated as it is in other industries. LafargeHolcim, together with its partners Sika and CCCC, believes that through an approach of open innovation the entire sector could profit from efficiency gains and further develop sustainable solutions. LH Accelerator works with innovative companies who are either active in the construction industry or have solutions that could be applied to the industry. The LH Accelerator is especially focused on solutions in Design & Engineering, Material and Logistics, Construction Equipment, Construction Services and Demolition & Waste Management.

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    “Early start-up and large group collaboration is a key success factor in bringing new technologies to market”

    Nicolas Penet
    Pertinence Invest / Sofimac
     

    Over six months in 2018, the LH Accelerator program at the LafargeHolcim R&D Center near Lyon, France, was the hub for ten young, innovative companies to change the way our industry operates. Participating companies sought to solve common challenges and to look into the topic of sustainable construction materials and solutions.

    Participants have each put forward solutions for areas in which there is a clear need for innovative breakthroughs. From the initial onboarding session in May through the Summer Camp, these companies have benefitted from access to our facilities in Lyon and the guidance of industry experts to take their ideas to the next level.

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    “We were very lucky to have met CCCC, Sika and LafargeHolcim. We were able to meet the right people for the right vertical; I think this was a perfect accelerator for that purpose.”

    Cyriaque Rios
    Resolving
     

    Demonstrating the future of innovative construction

    The culmination of the six-month LH Accelerator program took place in November: Demo Day. This was the opportunity to meet from 10 countries from Europe, Asia, Americas and Africa who can introduce the solutions to their local markets, as well as investors to whom they can pitch their innovative solutions. A range of LafargeHolcim experts was also on hand, including program mentors, experts and LafargeHolcim R&D staff.

    There will be a Season Two in 2019 following the success in 2018, with the LH Accelerator yet again providing unmatched access to influential investors and partners in the construction industry.

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    "Initially I thought innovation in construction would be concentrated on materials but there are more possibilities in different segments of construction such as material, software and processes"

    Nicolas Goiran
    Siparex
     

    Watch the recap of Demo Day

     
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    A look back on the Season One

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