Dutch startup MAECONOMY has secured €1.5 million in a funding round to expand its platform for managing and trading reusable building materials. The company plans to use the investment to strengthen its market infrastructure for the circular construction sector across Europe.
The round was led by LUMO Labs, an impact-focused venture capital firm based in Eindhoven. Regional development agency LIOF also participated in the investment.
Founded in 2023, MAECONOMY develops technology that helps identify, verify and assign value to materials used in buildings and infrastructure. Instead of treating these materials as waste after demolition, the company aims to classify them as reusable assets that can be traded in a structured marketplace.
Its platform combines AI-powered material mapping, digital material passports and blockchain-based transaction systems. As a result, property owners and other stakeholders can document and verify building materials before they are removed.
According to MAECONOMY, this approach improves transparency and allows materials to retain measurable economic value throughout their lifecycle.
Founder and CEO Vince Meens said the company is focused on building the financial infrastructure needed for a functioning market for circular construction materials.
He explained that materials within buildings should be identified, verified and valued before demolition begins. This process could help owners recover value from assets that are often overlooked under traditional construction practices.
Furthermore, the company believes standardising material data can simplify transactions and encourage wider adoption of material reuse across the industry.
Construction and demolition activities generate more than one-third of the European Union's total waste, according to MAECONOMY. However, many recovered materials such as steel, timber, concrete and copper continue to hold commercial value after a building reaches the end of its use.
The startup says existing systems often lack reliable methods to certify and price these materials. Consequently, reusable resources are frequently discarded instead of returning to the supply chain.
To address this gap, MAECONOMY digitises building-level and material-level information. It then applies algorithmic models to generate insights that support commercial decision-making for asset owners, municipalities and investors.
LUMO Labs believes MAECONOMY is tackling long-standing inefficiencies in construction and demolition processes.
Dagmar van Ravenswaay Claasen, Senior Partner at LUMO Labs, said valuable materials are often treated as waste despite retaining economic value. She added that MAECONOMY's platform introduces a framework that enables these materials to be identified, verified and traded before extraction.
Beyond material recovery, the company says its platform can support organisations working toward sustainability reporting requirements, including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the EU Taxonomy framework.
Currently, MAECONOMY operates in the Netherlands, where it works with municipalities and institutional asset owners. Going forward, the company plans to expand its presence across Europe while exploring opportunities in additional international markets.
The latest funding will support further platform development as MAECONOMY continues building digital infrastructure for the circular construction economy.
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