The contractor hopes the deal will “strengthen Balfour Beatty’s access to emerging technologies that could improve productivity, delivery certainty, safety and performance across major infrastructure projects.

The money will go into Pi Labs’ Fund IV focused on early-stage companies developing solutions across areas including artificial intelligence, data and robotics.

Balfour said the investment will allow it to work with entrepreneurs at an early stage “to identify relevant innovations sooner, build targeted partnerships and explore how practical technologies can be tested and applied across its construction projects around the world.”

Philip Hoare, Balfour Beatty Group Chief Executive, said: “Productivity is one of the defining challenges – and greatest opportunities – facing our industry.

“To deliver the scale and complexity of infrastructure our customers and communities need, we have to keep finding better ways to work. Our investment in Pi Labs will give us earlier access to entrepreneurs and technologies that could improve delivery, build capability and capacity and create long-term value.

“This is a strategic investment in practical innovation, focused on the partnerships and insight our key markets need for the years ahead.”

Since its founding, Pi Labs has made more than 100 investments across 15 countries.

Faisal Butt, Founder and Managing Partner of Pi Labs, said: “Balfour Beatty’s commitment reflects a shared belief that technology and AI can improve how the built environment is designed, delivered, maintained and operated.

“Our ambition is to accelerate innovation across the sector and back the entrepreneurs working on some of its biggest challenges – from productivity and performance to sustainability and resilience.

“With Balfour Beatty’s support, we can help connect promising technologies with the infrastructure projects and industry expertise needed to test, scale and apply them in the real world.”

Other investors in the Fund IV include Dar Ventures, the venture arm of design consultancy Sidara, and Ellington Properties, a Dubai-based developer.