Arctis AI raises $1M+ to bring contract intelligence to large-scale construction
Europe's biggest industry runs on PDFs, spreadsheets, and email threads. That's a problem when you're staring down €584 billion in power grid upgrades and around €500 billion in transport modernisations by 2030. Complexity is increasing, but admin still eats schedules, margins, and accountability.
German startup Arctis AI has raised $1M+ to fix the contract chaos at the core of project delivery. Led by former fencing champion and CEO Dila Ekrem, the company is building AI agents that structure contracts into a single, usable hub-where obligations, risks, payment terms, and dependencies become clear and actionable for commercial and project teams.
EU electricity grid upgrades and the TEN-T transport program show what's coming: bigger scopes, tighter timelines, and more contractors at the table. Paper-based workflows won't keep up.
What Arctis AI actually does
In construction, contracts kick off at tender and keep moving through drafting, review, change orders, claims, and close-out. Most tools still treat each file as a one-off. Arctis flips that. Contracts, specs, and linked agreements live in one connected system, so teams can see what depends on what-and act fast.
"Construction remains a highly traditional industry with deep structural inefficiencies," Ekrem said. "Our vision is to build an end-to-end platform for general contractors and project developers that embeds AI across daily workflows, enabling them to run projects faster, more accurately, and at lower cost."
The product starts with pre-signature workflows and turns past and current contracts into a reusable knowledge base. If your team builds similar assets in different geographies or works with the same subs, that knowledge sticks-even when senior people move on.
Why this matters on site and in the back office
Most disputes, delays, and cost overruns hide in vague obligations, missed notices, and unclear dependencies. By structuring contracts, Arctis helps teams surface critical terms early, avoid conflicts between parties, and keep commercial decisions connected to technical realities. Less admin drift. More predictable delivery.
"You can't review a contract in isolation," Ekrem explained. "Every document is connected, and those connections really matter. With Arctis, you can talk to your documents and see everything in relation to each other."
From fencing strips to startups
Ekrem grew up in her father's custom shirt shop, then spent her teens training and traveling-eventually ranking #1 in Turkey and winning 35+ national and international medals. Discipline and repetition translate well to construction software: the details decide the outcome.
She moved to Munich to study at TUM, where she met co-founders Duc-Trung Nguyen and Leon Stawowiak. Nguyen arrived from Vietnam, delivered for Flink while studying computer science, and later worked as an AI engineer at SAP. Stawowiak built AI applications at Bain & Company and KPMG.
Customer discovery first, pilot fast
The team spoke with over 150 contract managers to map the deadlocks: fragmented files, slow reviews, scattered obligations, and change-order churn. They started Arctis AI in August 2025 and shipped their first German pilot three months later.
Landing that first pilot took relationships and proof. "Warm introductions and being able to reference trusted names made a big difference," Ekrem said. Onboarding was hands-on-full-day sessions walking teams through setup and workflows. "Many are used to SAP and little else. It takes time at the beginning, but after a week or two, the product becomes intuitive."
Funding and the right backers
The round was led by PT1 (Berlin/London), with participation from EWOR, Superangels, and industry operators including Alexander Schwörer (Owner of PERI), Sebastian Johnston (Founding Partner at La Famiglia), Christian Vollmann (Founder of C1 Green Chemicals), Daniel Bronk (Founder of B+V Union & Real Estate Developer), and Christian Marquart (Director Legal at Marvel Fusion).
The raise followed UnternehmerTUM's Ideation Fellowship and an intense process. "I ended up doing around 150 investor calls," said Ekrem. The team prioritized sector expertise and market access over generalist capital. "We specifically wanted an investor from the construction industry. PT1 really understands the sector and opens doors."
Team and roadmap
Arctis has already hired engineers with experience from AWS, Snowflake, and Palantir. New capital will go into strengthening the technical team, expanding modules across the contract lifecycle, and scaling across Europe.
Practical takeaways for GCs and developers
- Audit your current contract flow: tender to close-out. List handoffs, owners, and where decisions stall.
- Standardize templates and clause libraries. Consistency makes automation pay off.
- Centralize documents and track dependencies between contracts, specs, and schedules.
- Pilot on one project with a clear success metric: fewer change-order disputes, faster reviews, or reduced claims.
- Assign a commercial lead and a project engineer to co-own adoption. Weekly 30-minute reviews beat monthly post-mortems.
Bottom line
Construction doesn't fail for lack of effort. It fails when obligations are buried, dates slip, and contracts don't talk to each other. Arctis AI is betting that contract intelligence-wired into daily workflows-will let teams move quicker with fewer surprises.
If you're upskilling your team on AI for project delivery and commercial operations, explore curated options by role here: AI courses by job.
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