# Volve

Aiolum story: https://aiolum.com/story/volve/ · added 2026-11-11 · updated 2026-11-11

**In short.** Volve (AI platform for construction tendering and preconstruction, Norway): Used on 2500+ projects by its own count, August 2026. Evidence grade E: no revenue figure was checked. Team: 2 founders on the company site in February 2024; 3 founders and 10 more named people on the About page in November 2026. Launched August 2023; still running.

AI platform for construction tendering and preconstruction · Norway · AI-native · started small, grew after funding · still running · group: Operations, logistics and trades

- Outcome: Used on 2500+ projects by its own count, August 2026 (evidence grade of the headline number: E; no revenue figure)
- Launch: August 2023; months from launch to the outcome: 36
- Team: 2 founders on the company site in February 2024; 3 founders and 10 more named people on the About page in November 2026
- Outside funding: Funded: seed round of US$3 million (NOK 30 million), announced 25 August 2026 (tech.eu); earlier Antler investment and Innovation Norway funding, amounts not published
- Main factor: Domain expertise
- Meters, 1 to 4: evidence strength 1, copyable pattern 1, capital needed 2
- Tags: AI-native, Small team, Funded, Running, B2B, Construction

Links:

- Visit volvetech.com: https://www.volvetech.com/

**The product.** A web platform that reads the documents of a construction tender and checks them against each other. It compares quantities with drawings and the BIM model, a contract with the customer's own red lines, and a bid with the client's award criteria. It also puts subcontractor offers on one scope. Each result is traced to its source, and the decisions stay with the user.

**Why it worked.** Volve works on one stage of one industry: the tendering and preconstruction work of construction companies. The About page describes the chief executive as a civil engineer with more than 10 years in construction. The company says it was built from the ground up for construction and not repurposed from a generic AI tool. Its pricing page sells a subscription that starts with a pilot on live tenders.

Evidence grades: A = disclosed by a public company, a filing or a payment processor, or verified by one; B = two or more independent reports agree, or a journalist confirmed it; C = a founder claim that no one else verified; D = reported, not verified: one founder claim or a third-party estimate with no second source; E = no revenue figure found, so the headline is a non-money fact and the other facts carry their own grades; calc = computed on this page from graded facts.

## Summary

Volve sells software that checks the documents of a construction tender. A tender is a formal request in which a client asks contractors for a price and terms for a building or infrastructure job. Volve reads the contract, drawings, bill of quantities and award criteria, and links each finding to its page. A bill of quantities is the list of work items and amounts on which the price rests.

The Norwegian company register dates Volve Technologies AS in Oslo to 2 August 2023. The About page says "Founded in 2024" and names three founders: Herman Smith (CEO), Abyl Ikhsanov (CTO) and Alf Jørgen Dovland (COO). The earliest copy of the company site, from 26 February 2024, is a pre-launch page that asks visitors to sign up for early access. On 25 August 2026 the news site tech.eu reported that Volve raised US$3 million (NOK 30 million) in a seed round led by Skyfall Ventures.

No revenue figure was found for Volve. The headline is the company's own count of more than 2,500 projects, stated in its announcement of 25 August 2026. The pricing page describes a pilot and a subscription but gives no price. No independent source confirms that the named customers pay.

## Why did Volve work?

### The CEO has more than 10 years in construction

The About page says the chief executive is a civil engineer with more than 10 years in construction. It says he led billion-NOK projects on both the client and the contractor side. It describes the chief technology officer as a former CTO of a Norwegian robotics company with an MSc in Artificial Intelligence. This is the company's own description of its founders.

### It sells a pilot on live tenders before a subscription

The pricing page says the first term is a pilot that starts "on your live tenders", at a price agreed upfront. After the pilot, the customer continues at a set price each term, at the level that fits its volume. The page publishes no amounts.

### Each finding is traced to its source in the documents

The home page says a task result comes back "checked and traced to its source". Its sample bill of quantities marks each line as measured, counted, conditional or not quantified. The page says each line links to the page, drawing or model element it came from.

## How it was built

These details come from the company's own pages. They are grade C. No page names the AI model that Volve uses.

- The product reads PDF, Word and Excel files, drawings as PDF or DWG, and models as RVT or IFC, according to the home page.
- The home page says documents, data and backups are hosted and processed in the EEA, and AI processing runs in the EU.
- The same page says third-party models are contractually barred from training on customer data.
- The 60 days page says a customer can drag in a document set or pull it from SharePoint or Procore.
- A user can save a task as a Playbook and run it again on the next project, says the home page.
- The privacy policy names Framer for the website, HubSpot for customer relationships, Intercom for support, Google Analytics and Google Workspace.

Sources: [1, 8, 7]

## Who tried this before Volve, and why did they fail?

Two companies in our database of failed startups sold software or a marketplace to construction companies. Neither worked on tenders, so the match is loose. The values below are from that database and are not independently verified.

The failed startups come from our database of dead startups, retold here in our own words; Its entries are AI-assisted summaries of public sources, so they carry no evidence grade.

### SmartSite (2016 to 2019; funding US$1.5M; cause: Competition)

- Promise: An on-demand platform for construction project management and resource allocation, with data analytics and predictive modelling.
- Why it died: It could not win enough market share quickly enough to fend off competitors, says the database.
- Record: 

### BuildStream (2019 to 2022; funding US$5.0M; cause: Slow adoption)

- Promise: A marketplace that connected construction companies with vetted freelance construction professionals.
- Why it died: It could not grow its user base beyond its first region, and adoption was slow, says the database.
- Record: 

## What changed

The two predecessors sold project management or labour hiring. Volve sells a check of tender documents before a contractor commits to a bid. The company says in its announcement that about 80 percent of a project's cost is set before the contract is signed.

Volve also differs in who pays: its pages address contractors and the client-side teams that evaluate their bids. No source shows whether this protects Volve from the causes that ended the two. The database says Procore and Autodesk dominate construction software today.

## Can one person copy Volve now?

**Verdict: The pattern, yes. Without industry experience, hardly.**

The pattern is a pilot on the customer's live documents, followed by a subscription. It needs people who know how tenders are won and lost. The company shows a funded team of 13 people, not a solo founder.

1. Pick one document-heavy decision in one industry, such as the review of a tender.
2. Check the documents against each other and show where each finding comes from.
3. Start each customer with a paid or priced pilot on live work.
4. Move the customer to a subscription at a set price per term.

**What is still open.** Other industries where a team must read hundreds of contract documents before committing: shipbuilding, energy projects and public-sector purchasing.

## How much revenue does Volve make? The numbers, graded

A company registered in 2023 that states more than 2,500 projects and a seed round, with no revenue figure and no published price

| Fact | Value | Grade | Note | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projects the platform was used on, August 2026 (headline) | more than 2,500 | C | The company's announcement of 25 August 2026 says "more than 2,500 construction projects". Digital Construction Plus repeats it. The home page counts "tenders and contracts". | [4, 6, 1] |
| Start of the company | Volve Technologies AS, Oslo, founded 2 August 2023 and registered 31 August 2023 | B | The Norwegian company register (Brønnøysund), organisation number 931 997 335, gives both dates. The About page says "Founded in 2024", and tech.eu gives the same year. The earliest copy of the site in the Internet Archive is dated 26 February 2024. | [13, 3, 5, 9] |
| Founders | Herman Smith (CEO), Abyl Ikhsanov (CTO), Alf Jørgen Dovland (COO) | C | The About page names them. tech.eu spells the second name "Ikshanov". A copy of the site from March 2025 announces the CTO as a new co-founder. | [3, 5, 11] |
| Team, November 2026 | 3 founders and 10 more named people | C | The About page lists ten team members besides the founders, and four advisors. The page may not list everyone. The company register showed 10 employees on 13 October 2026. | [3, 13] |
| Funding, August 2026 | seed round of US$3 million (NOK 30 million) | C | tech.eu reported the round on 25 August 2026. Skyfall Ventures led it, with J12, Norrsken Evolve, OBOS Ventures, Antler and StartupLab. | [5, 4] |
| Earlier funding | Antler investment and Innovation Norway funding; amounts not published | C | A copy of the company site from 14 October 2024 lists two news items with these headlines. The copy gives no amount. | [10] |
| Pricing model | pilot, then subscription; no price published | C | The pricing page says "A price agreed upfront" for the pilot and "A set price each term" for the subscription. | [2] |
| Customer named by press | Skanska | C | Digital Construction Plus wrote on 25 August 2026 that "the company counts Skanska among its customers". The article retells the company's announcement. | [6] |
| Customer terms | a customer agreement with commercial terms for each customer | C | The privacy policy says platform access is governed by the customer agreement, "made effective through the commercial terms with each customer". | [7] |
| Example result of one customer tender | 213 documents, 20 main risks, 73 subcontractor bids compared | C | The home page and the company's announcement give the example. Both come from the company and name no customer. | [1, 4] |
| Where data is processed | documents and AI processing in the EU or EEA | C | The home page says documents are hosted and processed in the EEA and AI processing runs in the EU. It names no model provider. | [1] |
| Time from the founding of the company to the headline | 36 months | calc | Calculated: August 2023 to August 2026. | [13, 4] |

How to read this table. One value is grade B: the start of the company, from the Norwegian company register. Every other value is grade C: a statement by the company, or by a news site that retells its announcement. A "calc" value was computed on this page from the rows above it.

## Pricing

Volve's pricing model in November 2026, read from the company's pricing page (grade C). The company publishes no price

| Plan | Per month, billed yearly (US$) | Per month, billed monthly (US$) | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot, first term | not published | not published | a price agreed upfront; a set number of workspaces |
| Subscription, rolling terms | not published | not published | a set price each term; workspaces in fixed levels; extra workspaces at an agreed rate |
| Add-ons |  | not published | Embedded Specialist, Volve Outputs, technical add-ons; each priced separately |

The page says Volve is offered as a subscription, tailored to the organisation and its use. All plans include unlimited users. Two add-ons are ordered and priced separately. A visitor can ask for a proposal or a demo.

## When did Volve launch, and how did it grow? Timeline

From the founding of the company in August 2023 to a stated 2,500 projects in August 2026, in 36 months. Each entry carries its grade.

- **2 August 2023** (grade B [13]): Volve Technologies AS is founded in Oslo. The company register enters it on 31 August 2023.
- **26 February 2024** (grade C [9]): The earliest copy of the company site shows Volve Technologies AS with a request to sign up for early access. It lists a founder and chief executive, another founder and a chairman.
- **14 October 2024** (grade C [10]): The site shows the product volve.evaluate, a button "Pre-register now" and a team with a co-founder and CTO.
- **8 March 2025** (grade C [11]): The home page of that date offers Standard and Enterprise plans without prices. It shows a row of logos and calls them "a few of the customers" of the company.
- **25 August 2026** (grade C [4, 5, 6]): The company announces a seed round of NOK 30 million. tech.eu and Digital Construction Plus report it the same day. The announcement states more than 2,500 projects.
- **11 November 2026** (grade C [2, 3]): The pricing page offers a pilot and a subscription without prices. The About page lists 13 people besides advisors.

## What could go wrong for Volve?

- **What is not verified.** No revenue figure was found for Volve. The search covered the company site, its privacy policy, tech.eu, Digital Construction Plus and Internet Archive copies. The count of 2,500 projects and the customer names are the company's statements. The company's pages describe a subscription but no source confirms that these customers pay. A reader could look for the company's annual accounts in the Norwegian company register or for a customer's own statement.
- **Logo wall, counter and testimonials.** The home page shows a row of company logos, 27 distinct names in its image labels, including Skanska, NCC and Veidekke. It does not say which are paying customers. One logo reads OBOS, and OBOS Ventures is also named as an investor. The page does not say whether they are the same group. It shows three named testimonials and a counter of more than 2,500 tenders and contracts. No independent source was found for the three testimonials. The pricing page quotes a "Tender manager, Infrastructure contractor, Volve client" without a name.
- **Services next to the software.** The pricing page sells two add-ons beside the subscription. "Embedded Specialist" is "A Volve specialist working with your team on agreed days". "Volve Outputs" gives "deliverables such as bills of quantities produced for you". The site also invites visitors to book a demo. No source says how much of the revenue comes from these services.
- **An earlier site and a changed team.** The company register dates the company to August 2023, and the About page says 2024. The February 2024 copy of the site lists a second founder who does not appear on the current About page. The About page lists 13 people, and the company register showed 10 employees in October 2026. No source states the headcount at the time of the 2,500 figure.

## Sources

1. Volve home page: AI for construction tendering and preconstruction — https://www.volvetech.com/ (grade C). Read in full on 11 November 2026. Source for the product, the counter, the logo row, the testimonials and the data hosting.
2. Volve pricing page: Pricing sized to the tenders and contracts you run — https://www.volvetech.com/pricing (grade C). Read in full on 11 November 2026. Source for the pilot and subscription terms and the add-ons. The FAQ answers were not read.
3. About Volve | Commercial decision intelligence — https://www.volvetech.com/about (grade C). Read in full on 11 November 2026. Source for the founding year, the founders, the team and the investors.
4. Volve announcement, 25 August 2026: Volve raises seed round — https://www.volvetech.com/insights/volve-raises-seed-round (grade C). Read in full on 11 November 2026. The company's own press release. Source for the projects count and the round.
5. tech.eu, 25 August 2026: Volve lands $3M to expand construction tendering AI across Europe — https://tech.eu/2026/08/25/volve-lands-3m-to-expand-construction-tendering-ai-across-europe/ (grade C). Read in full on 11 November 2026. A news article that retells the company's announcement. Source for the seed round and the founding year.
6. Digital Construction Plus, 25 August 2026: App that identifies risks in tenders targets UK — https://digitalconstructionplus.com/app-that-identifies-risks-in-tenders-targets-uk/ (grade C). Read in full on 11 November 2026. A news article that retells the company's announcement. Source for the Skanska statement and the 2024 launch.
7. Volve Privacy Policy, last updated September 2026 — https://www.volvetech.com/privacy-policy (grade C). Read in full on 11 November 2026. Source for the customer agreement and the service providers.
8. Volve Onboarding: 60 Days with Volve — https://www.volvetech.com/60-days-with-volve (grade C). Read in full on 11 November 2026. Source for the document import from SharePoint or Procore.
9. Internet Archive copy of volvetech.com, 26 February 2024 — https://web.archive.org/web/20240226103426/https://www.volvetech.com/ (grade C). Read in full. The earliest copy of the site that the Archive's availability service returned. Source for the pre-launch page and the team of that date.
10. Internet Archive copy of volvetech.com, 14 October 2024 — https://web.archive.org/web/20241014202209/https://www.volvetech.com/ (grade C). Read in full. Source for the product name volve.evaluate and the news headlines about Antler and Innovation Norway.
11. Internet Archive copy of volvetech.com, 8 March 2025 — https://web.archive.org/web/20250308113135/https://www.volvetech.com/ (grade C). Read in full. Source for the first plans without prices, the row of customer names and the CTO announcement.
12. Database of failed startups, local export — /method/#dead (grade C). Record pages read on the website on 11 November 2026. AI-written summaries, not independently verified. Source for the failed predecessors.
13. Brønnøysund Register Centre (Norwegian company register): VOLVE TECHNOLOGIES AS, organisation number 931 997 335 — https://virksomhet.brreg.no/en/oppslag/enheter/931997335 (grade B). Read the record on 11 November 2026. Source for the founding date, the registration date and the number of employees. Names and roles were not used.

Contact: aiolum@livyden.com. Run Volve? Send corrections or a verified figure to aiolum@livyden.com (subject: Correction: Volve).