Bridging the Gap: Barriers to Effective Collaboration Between Technology Startups and Construction Firms

10 pages•Published: June 2, 2026

Abstract

Since collaboration with technology ventures has an important potential for the development and adoption of construction technology, identifying the barriers to this engagement is important. This study examines how mid-to large-sized U.S. construction firms engage with technology startups and the barriers that influence these collaborations. Results reveal that purchasing products and licenses represents the most prevalent form of engagement, with companies such as Drone Deploy, OpenSpace, and Join emerging as leading partners due to the maturity and demonstrated benefits of their technologies. The barriers related to these were clustered into four overarching themes: knowledge and fit, organizational/resource constraints, strategic/cultural misalignment, and risk/legal concerns. Among these, knowledge- and fit-related issues were found to be the most critical, particularly the challenges of identifying suitable startups and startups’ limited understanding of the construction sector. Conversely, concerns about intellectual property were less significant than in other industries, reflecting the sector’s preference for applied technological solutions over proprietary innovation ownership. Overall, the findings suggest that fostering effective corporate–startup partnerships in construction requires improving sector-specific knowledge exchange, enhancing organizational readiness, and developing trust-based mechanisms that enable long-term, strategic innovation collaboration.

Keyphrases: barriers, collaboration, construction technology, startup engagement, startups

In: Wesley Collins, Anthony Perrenoud and John Posillico (editors). Proceedings of Associated Schools of Construction 62nd Annual International Conference, vol 7, pages 793-802.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/hJts
	https://doi.org/10.29007/g78m

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{ASC2026:Bridging_Gap_Barriers_Effective,
  author    = {Busra Yucel and Salman Azhar},
  title     = {Bridging the Gap: Barriers to Effective Collaboration Between Technology Startups and Construction Firms},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of Associated Schools of Construction 62nd Annual International Conference},
  editor    = {Wesley Collins and Anthony Perrenoud and John Posillico},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Built Environment},
  volume    = {7},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2632-881X},
  url       = {/publications/paper/hJts},
  doi       = {10.29007/g78m},
  pages     = {793-802},
  year      = {2026}}

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