From Architects and System Architects.
CMiD is a Zurich- and Berlin-based startup on a mission to give every building material a permanent, verifiable digital identity. Behind it is a four-person founding team combining architecture, deep tech, distributed systems, and business strategy — built to take a complex problem from lab to market.
The Team.
CMiD is built by a tight-knit team of four based across Zurich and Berlin, combining deep expertise in strategy, product design, engineering, and software architecture.
At the helm are two co-founders Marcel and Benedikt with complementary strengths.
leads business development and finance, drawing on over a decade of leadership experience and executive training at ETH — connecting narrative, metrics, and scaling in the Swiss market.
shapes the product vision and system design, bringing an architectural background from TUM and Oslo and hands-on experience leading BIM-based data projects across the construction supply chain.
Hendrik drives the core fingerprint technology from research algorithm to production-ready capability, while Alex contributes over 15 years of experience in distributed systems, data pipelines, and applied machine learning. Together, they cover the full stack — from scientific foundation to market execution.
The Vision.
Intelligent construction starts with knowing its materials.
CMiD’s vision is a built environment where every component has a lasting identity — and its knowledge travels with it. From the factory to the construction site. From one building to the next. Every documented property, quality check and use cycle becomes part of a history that future projects can build on.
As material identities spread, these individual histories can grow into an industry-scale pool of real-world data. Millions of components. Connected knowledge about how materials are produced, installed and perform over time. A foundation for construction to learn from its own experience.
For Physical AI, this opens a new frontier: connecting what machines see to what is known about the materials they work with. We envision robots that draw on component data to guide handling and assembly. Autonomous systems that support inspection and maintenance. Recovery processes that recognise valuable components and prepare them for another life.
CMiD is building the material identity layer for that future — enabling knowledge to grow, machines to act with greater precision, and materials to stay in use.
Our Partners.
CMiD draws on a powerful network of partners to accelerate trust, reach, and technical credibility. At the core is an exclusive license to Fraunhofer IFAM's patented surface-based identification technology — providing both scientific foundation and institutional backing. Through TUM Venture Labs, the team maintains strong ties to academic research and early-stage innovation ecosystems. Industry associations and city partners lend legitimacy and open doors to real-world pilots, while connectors to BIM, ERP, and material passport platforms ensure CMiD integrates seamlessly into the workflows its customers already rely on. Together, these relationships form the backbone of a go-to-market strategy built on trust, interoperability, and shared standards
