IAG-backed infrastructure monitoring startup Trendspek has worked with civil engineering firm Wallbridge Gilbert Aztec (WGA) to inspect over 25 cranes a year at ports in Brisbane and Sydney.  

Trendspek raised $6.3 million in December, with backing from IAG’s Firemark Ventures, and uses drone technology to create detailed 3D models of real estate and other assets for inspection. 

Physical crane inspections require a three-day shutdown, with costs in the thousands per asset, while Trendspek’s Precision Asset Intelligence software asset capture takes place in less than a day. 

“With Trendspek, cranes are back online the same morning and much more accurate assessment takes place on screen,” WGA Group Digital Engineering Manager Andrew Brown said.   

"They get better results and no one has to risk their life hanging from a rope or standing on a cherry picker.” 

Launched in in 2018, Sydney-based Trendspek creates exact 3D digital models of buildings and infrastructure to enable accurate inspections stakeholder collaboration anywhere in the world.  

Co-founder Fiona Church says in the last decade, more than 60 major bridges and 10 crucial water infrastructure assets have failed, killing thousands. At least two high-rise residential buildings in Sydney were urgently evacuated due to serious cracking in recent years. 

“These incidents and so many like them could have been avoided with more stringent, frequent and accurate asset inspection,” Ms Church said. 

Trendspek’s platform “brings assets to life on screen” within hours of drone capture with high-resolution 3D models of assets covering every external angle a structure, zooming down to 1mm on property, energy, infrastructure and telco assets. 

“You can literally see paint peeling on an asset on the opposite side of the world, without leaving your desk,” Ms Church said.  

"For decades, the people who have planned their upkeep have had to rely on inaccurate, 2D models, or worse – folders of photos with no context – to make critical decisions that affect all of us and our safety.” 

IAG Firemark Ventures General Partner Scott Gunther says Trendspek's software provides an exciting business opportunity and “will provide better risk assessments, enable proactive and targeted maintenance, and improve the claims experience for IAG's commercial customers”.