Crafthunt, Europe's largest construction career platform, secures €3 million to combat skilled labor shortage

Munich, June 4, 2024 – Crafthunt has closed a seed funding round of €3 million with UVC Partners, Redstone, and prominent angel investors to tackle the skilled labor shortage in the construction industry. 

The German construction sector faces a profound skilled labor crisis, which is expected to intensify over the next 15 years as more baby boomers exit the labor market. According to the Federal Statistical Office, approximately 26 percent of all employed persons in Germany are over 55. "As the megatrends of energy transition and smart cities fill order books - particularly in civil engineering and infrastructure - the availability of suitable skilled workers continues to decline," explains Dr. Anna Hocker, co-founder and COO of Crafthunt. "We are already experiencing a landslide decline in the number of skilled workers active in the market, and this will intensify by more than 30 percent across all construction disciplines throughout Europe over the next five years."

To address this issue, it is essential not only to focus on training and education but also on the practical and rapid procurement and coordination of skilled workers from both domestic and foreign markets. Crafthunt offers an excellent app-based solution with its career platform for the construction industry.

Crafthunt provides companies with an AI-based and fully automated matching system that distributes job offers on its platform and beyond, targeting the right talent groups domestically and internationally. Additionally, client companies can enhance their employer branding beyond their location with meaningful profiles containing relevant information for the target group, such as available jobs, languages spoken, tools, equipment, vehicle fleets, and machinery. Based on this information, the matching algorithm identifies suitable candidates with the necessary skills, experience, and attributes. Candidates can also gain deeper insights into companies' prestigious projects, other professions within the company, and critical data like the average distance to construction sites or the annual construction volume. This way, potential candidates get a clear picture of the employer and can make a sustainable decision to join. Since this information and the chat between candidates and companies are automatically translated into 21 languages using AI, Crafthunt democratizes access to the local labor market for foreign skilled workers in the construction industry. Those who register with Crafthunt are guaranteed to receive validated job offers at least once a week, allowing them to move into a new job quickly.

"If we want to get a handle on the skilled labor issue in Germany, there is no way around finding a solution to the talent sourcing problem across borders," states Dr. Patrick Christ, co-founder of Crafthunt. Jonas Stamm, Crafthunt's founder, CEO, and expert in applying AI in the construction industry, adds, "We aim to be the leading workforce solution provider in Europe and beyond, becoming an integral part of the global HR systems for construction companies and craft businesses."

Dr. Ingo Potthof, Managing Partner at UVC Partners and one of the leading investors, explains, "As a VC, we have been monitoring the increasingly critical developments in the construction and real estate industry for years and have therefore strategically invested in startups like Capmo and Predium. Crafthunt, with its outstanding knowledge of the construction industry combined with advanced technology and AI expertise, is uniquely positioned to effectively meet the complex requirements of the construction sector and customer needs, thereby preventing future construction stops and delays caused by skilled labor shortages."

Jana Petry, Associate at UVC Partners, adds: "Crafthunt does not approach the problem transactionally but holistically through years of experience. The platform leverages current technology to make the analog construction industry digital and attractive to the target group. This solution overcomes country-specific barriers such as translation into industry-specific language, connecting suitably skilled workers with attractive companies in the construction industry. We are convinced that Crafthunt can become the app for the global construction industry."

And finally, Niklas Grunewald, Managing Partner Redstone Built World, says: "We strongly believe in the value of vertical SaaS products in complex and manual environments such as the construction industry, where customer needs are not catered for by generalistic HR software. Crafthunt has a unique opportunity to build an industry-defining product suite and help the industry solve talent access."

With the fresh capital, Crafthunt will expand the platform, explore new markets for skilled workforce recruitment, and launch additional products and services to make the user experience from the initial steps through expert search and talent matching as pleasant and efficient as possible.

About Crafthunt

Crafthunt is Europe's leading platform for job placement in the construction sector, utilizing advanced AI technology to offer efficient and automated solutions. The company was founded in 2022 by Jonas Stamm, Patrick Christ, Emil Kirchheiner, and Themi Tsiotas von Pfaler. Dr. Anna Hocker joined the founding team in 2023. As a specialized recruiting platform for the construction industry, Crafthunt connects renowned construction companies, craft businesses, and engineering offices with qualified, skilled workers. Over 30,000 site managers, electricians, and other construction professionals use Crafthunt to explore new career opportunities securely while maintaining control over releasing their data. Top companies such as Drees & Sommer, Stadtwerke München, and BAUER Spezialtiefbau provide valuable insights into their projects and teams on their profiles. By utilizing AI, Crafthunt aims to optimize staffing and enable transparent company representations in the construction industry.

About UVC Partners

UVC Partners is a leading Munich- and Berlin-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests in European B2B tech start-ups from pre-seed to series A. With about €400 million in assets under management, UVC Partners typically invests between €500,000 and €10 million initially and up to €30 million per company. The portfolio includes category leaders in deep tech, climate tech, hard- and software, and mobility with various technologies and business models. As an independent partner of UnternehmerTUM, Europe's most extensive innovation and startup center, UVC Partners has access to proprietary deal flow, an industrial network of more than 1,000 corporates, and access to talent from the leading European technical university. The investments include Flix, Vimcar, planqc, Tanso, Isar Aerospace, TWAICE, DeepDrive, STABL, and many more. They all benefit from the team's extensive investment and exit experience, their ability to build sustainable category leaders with a competitive advantage, and their passion for growing the game changers of tomorrow. 

About Redstone

Redstone is a European venture capital firm headquartered in Berlin with offices in Zurich and Helsinki. Redstone operates funds that invest in young growth companies with targeted strategies in the Built World, Climate, Fintech, Health, Industrial, Quantum, and Social Impact sectors.

Its current portfolio includes more than 90 portfolio companies, such as Qonto, PlanRadar, FinanzGuru, Empion, Atlas Metrics and Liqid. Leveraging its proprietary data and analytics platform SOFIA, which evaluates more than 3.5 million startups and technology companies Worldwide in real time, Redstone draws on a sophisticated evidence-based software system to support its investment team.