Certchain raises £750k to digitise construction certifications and prove competence using AI
This article covers Certchain, a proptech startup, which has raised £750,000 from Ufi Ventures and Haatch to expand an AI-enabled workforce compliance platform for construction contractors. The development aims to support UK contractors and workers by digitising certifications and providing auditable, worker-facing competency tools to evidence and monitor workforce competence.
Certchain, a proptech startup, has raised £750,000 from Ufi Ventures and Haatch to expand an AI-enabled workforce compliance platform aimed at construction contractors. The funding will support roll-out across major UK contractors and the development of worker-facing competency tools that digitise certifications and help firms evidence workforce competence.
Why it matters
Construction is under growing regulatory and contractual pressure to provide auditable proof of worker competence. Manual checks, spreadsheets and fragmented skills matrices make compliance slow and error prone, creating project delays, safety risks and potential fines. Digital systems that verify credentials and make them portable could cut administrative overhead and reduce supply‑chain friction while helping workers demonstrate and develop skills across employers.
The deal also reflects broader interest from proptech investors in tools that digitise on-site operations and workforce management.
Inside the product
Certchain’s platform verifies credentials with more than 40 training and regulatory bodies and issues what it calls “skills passports” so any worker’s verified qualifications are accessible across projects. Employers can onboard, verify and continuously monitor competence for their workforce and subcontractors, replacing manual checks with automated monitoring, forecasts and alerts about emerging risks across the organisation and supply chain.
The product includes a worker-facing assistant, Cara AI, that compares a worker’s current profile with role requirements and highlights training gaps. The company says this is intended to make career pathways clearer in an industry where progression routes are often opaque.
Who are the investors?
Ufi Ventures and Haatch led the £750,000 round. The investment will be used to accelerate roll-out with major UK contractors and to build more automated compliance workflows and worker-facing competency tools.
In the announcement, Toby Plamer, Investment Associate at Ufi Ventures, said:
Construction is entering a period where competence has to be evidenced, not assumed. Certchain provides the infrastructure for industry to operate safely, while helping workers spot opportunities to progress their careers. The approach aligns perfectly with our focus on investing in skills and the future of work. We’re really pleased to back Stephen, Sam, Hilde and the team as they scale with major contractors.
In the announcement, Jeremy Luzinda, Principal at Haatch, said:
Certchain is addressing a deep operational pain in construction: evidencing workforce competence in real time and at scale. At Haatch we back founders using software and data to solve these kinds of problems where there is a large enterprise opportunity, so we are excited to support Stephen, Sam, Hilde and the team.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Hilde Holt-Bjørnerud, Certchain Co-Founder, said:
Traditionally, demonstrating your team and subcontractors have the skills they need to meet regulation or mandatory technical competencies relied on manual card checks, managing spreadsheets and fragmented skills matrices. Certchain makes all this centralised, digital and live. What used to take months can be done in minutes, enabling our clients to take a more proactive standards-based approach to skills management and compliance - with continuous monitoring, forecasts, and alerts on emerging risks and issues across your organisation and supply chain.
In the announcement, Hilde Holt-Bjørnerud, Certchain Co-Founder, said:
The investment is a game changer for Certchain. With support from Ufi Ventures and Haatch we can go from proving Certchain works to delivering it at scale. We can now roll out faster with big clients, automate more of the heavy lifting on compliance, and give thousands more workers a live, portable record of their skills.
Hilde’s comments emphasise both operational benefits for employers and portability and career transparency for workers.
The bigger picture
The funding highlights a practical, non‑flashy strand of innovation in construction technology: solutions aimed at workforce competency, credentials and compliance rather than hardware or project management. For UK contractors facing tougher regulation and for workers navigating fragmented training pathways, verified digital credentials and AI‑assisted career guidance could become standard tools.
If Certchain can demonstrate reliable integrations with training bodies and deliver measurable reductions in compliance overhead, similar approaches may see uptake across Europe where regulators are also tightening competence requirements for built‑environment projects.
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