Futurebuild 2026 celebrated sustainable innovation at scale as Madaster was announced winner of the Big Innovation Pitch with its intelligence platform helping to transform buildings from waste streams into resource hubs.
The construction tech company has created a ‘Vinted-style’ marketplace for second hand materials called Madaster Match. The urban mining tool connects demolition and construction firms to salvage assets that may otherwise be discarded during major renovations.
It is already being actively used in Germany and the Netherlands and is proving a game-changer for circular real estate and infrastructure.
Image: The shortlist - Martin
Fahey, My Linh Nguyen, Earth4earth's Dr. Zei Zhang, Madaster CEO
Martijn Oostenrijk, Switchable Insulation's Adrian Pugsley, Richard
Haworth and Dr. Olli Jones.
“The award recognises some of the newest and brightest solutions tackling built environment challenges and we’re incredibly proud to be part of that conversation and extremely honoured to be the ultimate winners against such strong contenders,” says Madaster CEO, Martijn Oostenrijk.
The shortlisted nominees were selected by Dr. Olli Jones, Head of Sustainability at multi-disciplinary consultancy, Cundall, and a prominent industry personality, academic and advocate for Net Zero futures. Alongside Madaster, he invited Switchable Insulation and earth4Earth Technology Ltd to take to the stage and pitch their developments.
Switchable Insulation presented an ingenious climate-adaptive facade insulation system that can dynamically switch between heat-retention and heat-releasing modes to counteract over-heating in Summer. While earth4Earth made the case for its ‘carbon capture bricks’ inspired by Fujian Tulou, traditional Chinese earth buildings known for their sustainable design and energy efficiency.
Deliberating the winning entries with Olli were Saint Gobain’s Commercial lead, Richard Haworth, Mitsubishi Electric’s Head of Sustainability, Martin Fahey, and last year’s Big Innovation Pitch winner, My Linh Nguyen - co-founder and COO of Agreka Build.
Since taking home the trophy in 2025, Agreka Build has gone on to secure additional funding and its first tender backed by DESNZ, DEFRA and Innovate UK - a prime example of the platform Futurebuild and the Big Innovation Pitch provides for start-ups on a mission to support Net Zero construction and pioneer regenerative building solutions.
“These are not grand ideas or woolly concepts, the companies competing in our Big Innovation Pitch are solutions for now and taking on the sector’s most pressing issues,” says Futurebuild Event Director, Martin Hurn. “As ever, this year’s shortlisted nominees were truly inspirational and it’s rewarding to be able to give these entrepreneurs the opportunity to get in front of the decision makers that could catapult such impactful innovations into the mainstream, in the very near future.”
