Australian Start-Up CLT Toolbox Raises A$1.5M to Revolutionize Timber Building Design

Australian Start-Up CLT Toolbox Raises A$1.5M to Revolutionize Timber Building Design

In a prominent development within the construction industry, CLT Toolbox, an Australian software platform specializing in structural design for mass timber products, has secured an impressive A$1.5 million in a seed funding round. The investors include BluescopeX, the venture arm of steel manufacturer Bluescope, and Gravel Road Ventures, co-founded by Aconex co-founder Rob Phillpot, among others. Archangel Ventures led the funding round.

Mass-engineered timber construction materials, particularly cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue-laminated timber (GLT), are gaining widespread recognition due to their carbon-absorbing capabilities and their ability to reduce emissions in new construction projects. Examples of this trend can be seen in iconic buildings like the Atlassian Tower in Sydney and the C6 in Perth.

The brainchild of friends Adam Jones and Ringo Thomas, CLT Toolbox aims to address the lack of structural engineers specializing in timber in Australia. Despite a rising demand for mass timber, there’s a shortage of experts to endorse the material. Mr. Jones, who has a background in structural engineering, developed the idea for the business after working for XLam Australia, the country’s largest CLT supplier. He pointed out that out of roughly 10,000 structural engineers in Australia, only about 30 are timber specialists.

To overcome this bottleneck, CLT Toolbox offers software that automates computations and material guidelines, simplifying the process of designing with mass timber. According to Mr. Thomas, “There’s software for steel and concrete that does the structural designs, but for mass timber or cross-laminated timber, there’s nothing that’s even close to as advanced as what you have for the traditional materials.”

The Melbourne-based start-up is set to launch its software product this month, following three months of rigorous testing by users from local and international tier-one engineering firms. The seed investment, which values the company at $8.5 million, will be instrumental in expanding its operations to Europe and hiring an additional 10 employees.

CLT Toolbox has a team of 10 software engineers in Jakarta, Indonesia, and nine structural engineers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Both teams hold a stake in the company. The company’s ambition to simplify mass timber design could not only revolutionize the construction industry in Australia but also make a significant impact globally as it addresses a critical need for sustainable building solutions.