Build(ON)
Build(On) is ACA’s open innovation programme for those who want to build the future.
This challenge is designed for start-ups and technology spin-offs, micro and small companies with innovative solutions, scale-ups, and technology-driven companies, to develop and test innovative solutions in the construction, environment, and forestry sectors, through direct collaboration with ACA teams.
By participating, you gain access to technical support, co-development opportunities, real conditions for pilot testing, and access to investment, incubation, and networking opportunities.
Do you have an innovation with real impact? Do you already have a technology validated in another sector and want to take it further? Take on the challenge and build the future with us.
2026 Edition
What can you expect from this edition?
Pilot Testing
Real tests in an operational context.
Co-Development
Joint work with ACA teams.
Scalability
Potential for implementation across other business areas and geographies.
Investment
Possible future investment or equity participation.
Verticals
Predictive Construction Management
This vertical focuses on harnessing artificial intelligence to anticipate scenarios and support smarter decision-making across the entire construction lifecycle. By turning historical and operational data into predictive insights, it enhances accuracy, mitigates risks, and enables a more efficient and informed approach to project management.
Smart Construction Sites with Computer Vision
Automation and Robotics in Construction
Digital Command Centre for Forestry Operations
Challenges
Build(ON)
Cost estimates for proposal preparation and budgeting
We are looking for solutions that help estimate costs with greater accuracy, by connecting the company’s historical data with current market prices, types of work, location, subcontractor profiles and deviation patterns from previous proposals.
Build(ON)
Construction planning and progress
We are looking for solutions that increase visibility over work progress, making it possible to predict delays, cost deviations, resource constraints and impacts on planning.
Build(ON)
Construction site safety
We are looking for solutions that monitor risks, people, equipment, PPE usage and critical areas, generating alerts and actionable information to prevent incidents on site.
Build(ON)
Automation in steel and iron shaping and assembly
We are looking for solutions that automate stages of preparation, shaping, cutting or assembly of steel, reducing manual processes and increasing operational efficiency.
Build(ON)
Infrastructure inspection
We are looking for solutions that support the inspection of high-risk infrastructure, reducing team exposure, increasing the reliability of collected information and improving quality control of works.
Build(ON)
Management and monitoring of forestry contracts
We are looking for solutions that aggregate data on contracts, areas, teams, evidence and deadlines, enabling operations monitoring, alert generation and timely decision-making.
Timeline
Programme Timeline
March to June
Scouting
Active scouting and engagement of start-ups, spin-offs, and relevant companies.
July
Selection
Evaluation and selection of projects aligned with the strategic axes.
July to December
Co-Development
Collaborative work with the selected teams.
January
Assessment
Analysis of the pilots' results and decision on next steps.
Manifest
At BUILD(ON), we believe that innovating is not an isolated act.
It is dialogue.
Dialogue between those who know the reality on site and those who see new possibilities.
Between experience and disruption.
Between what we already know how to do well and what we do not yet realise is possible.
Innovation is knowledge.
Knowledge that arises from practice, but also from curiosity.
From the ability to observe, question, and combine technical knowledge with new approaches.
It is about turning data into decisions, experience into learning, and ideas into solutions that make sense in the real world.
Innovation is responsibility.
Each pilot is a commitment to efficiency, sustainability, safety, and the future of the territories where we operate.
We do not innovate to follow trends.
We innovate to solve real problems — in a measurable, applicable, and scalable way.
Innovation at ACA is also trust.
Trust to open doors and share context, data, works, and knowledge.
Confidence to experiment.
Confidence to invest in what proves to be better.
Innovation means embracing noise, uncertainty, trial and error — not as a deviation, but as a path.
Because every project that truly changes something once began as just a hypothesis.
BUILD(ON)
ACA INNOVATION CHALLENGE
VALUE CONSTRUCTION
Contacts
Get in touch with us!
Telephone
+351 252 308 250
Address
Avenida dos Descobrimentos,
Ed. Las Vegas 3, Nº63
4760-011 Vila Nova de Famalicão
Portugal