The construction industry faces a massive $280 billion problem, primarily caused by costly rework resulting from poor communication and outdated data management between site teams and office staff.
To tackle this, SymTerra was founded in 2021 in the UK by Sarah Crawley, a former senior project manager at Mace, and John Ryan, a chartered mechanical engineer. Drawing on years of experience in delivering major infrastructure projects such as rail and water networks, they set out to solve the inefficiencies that cause delays and extra costs in construction.
Crawley told TFN, “The minimal construction tech we did have access to didn’t benefit us, and was a hassle to use. We would regularly have to make decisions with incorrect, out-of-date information or sometimes no information at all – and yet still needed to complete the work we were expected to deliver.
On teams have the most amount of knowledge of what’s happening, yet it’s largely uncaptured. Poor communication from the site can have such a detrimental impact on a project, and yet we were unable to communicate and report easily. We noticed a gap in the market and decided we wanted to create a tool that actually benefited on-site teams and closed the gap in communication between office and on-site teams.”
Today, the startup has raised £1.1 million from a group of industry leaders, including Fabienne Viala, former Chair and CEO of Bouygues UK. SymTerra is now ready to speed up product development and expand its reach across infrastructure projects valued at over £10 billion. This latest funding follows on from a successful £1.4 million pre-seed round, after which the company became profitable.
While platforms like Procore, PlanGrid, and Autodesk Construction Cloud dominate the market, many struggle to fit seamlessly into the complex workflows of large infrastructure projects. SymTerra’s technology replaces the scattered tools and paper forms commonly used on construction sites with one streamlined platform that connects the field and the back office in real time.
Crawley adds, “Unlike most existing tools that focus on form-filling or compliance reporting, SymTerra is designed around communication, not administration. The platform captures what’s happening on site as it happens, enabling photos, videos, updates, and records to flow in real-time from the people doing the work to those making decisions. That information becomes structured, searchable, and ready to use across the project lifecycle — from construction delivery through to asset management.
Our architecture also allows for interoperability with existing systems (BIM, ERP, CDEs, and asset management software), meaning teams don’t have to change how they work to adopt SymTerra.
What sets us apart is simplicity and inclusivity: the product is mobile-first, designed for on-site teams rather than digital specialists, and proven to drive adoption even in complex, multi-stakeholder environments. We’re not just collecting data, we’re improving how it’s created and shared.”
On diversity, Crawley confirmed to TFN, “SymTerra is a diverse team both in background and experience. The company was founded and designed by women with hands-on construction and engineering experience, something still rare in built environment technology.”
Looking ahead, SymTerra wants to become the go-to communication platform for the construction sector, helping teams work smarter and faster by making real-time data easily accessible.
