53. Symterra

Founders: Sarah Crawley and John Ryan
Founded: 2022
Website: symterra.co.uk

Every industry has that one, antiquated software platform that everyone uses simply because it’s what they’re used to. The construction sector is no different. At least, it wasn’t, until Sarah Crawley and John Ryan launched SymTerra.

London-based SymTerra is the communications app that construction firms have been crying out for. Historically, most site teams have used a mangled mix of email, phone calls, or WhatsApp to collaborate with co-workers. In the office, such poor messaging can cause delays. On a construction site, it can endanger lives.

Luckily, SymTerra is here to get the sector back on track. Both Crawley and Ryan have experience managing building projects and the product has clearly been designed with a worker-first approach.

London-based SymTerra is the communications app that construction firms have been crying out for.

Project managers, sparkies, scaffolders, and other team members on the ground can use the app to share short snappy updates, painting a cohesive picture of a project’s progress for partners to build from.

One of the main drawing points of this platform is the cohesiveness between every person involved in a project’s delivery. Using an app like WhatsApp will work well for one construction crew, but that chat will then be irrelevant to another.

“Instead of other digital tools which provide a siloed site diary, we link people and teams by involving the whole supply chain, not just a select few people using whatever software is being used,” Crawley said.

We link people and teams by involving the whole supply chain, not just a select few people using whatever software is being used.

SymTerra has already been adopted by massive construction partners like Thames Water, Transport for London, and Kier to deliver over £5bn worth of infrastructure projects.

Looking forward, the app has laid the foundations to replace WhatsApp as the leading communication method for construction sites and, in one fell swoop, improve the overall efficiency, delivery, and safety of the industry. We think it will nail it.