The sustainable concrete start-up revolutionising how cities are built

Liz Gilligan traded in a life of academia for business and now Google wants to construct its new Silicon Valley campus using her product, she tells Olivia Fletcher

A sample block of Material Evolution concrete (Material Evolution)

The phrase, “If not me, then who?” is the sentiment upon which Liz Gilligan says she founded her concrete business. We are always building: housing, office blocks, skyscrapers and entire cities – all of which require cement. Gilligan gets hers in batches of around 30,000 tons.

But there’s a problem: the concrete industry isn’t very green. Cement needs to be shifted across the country – and sometimes even across oceans. Plus, it usually relies on material that hasn’t been recycled.

That’s why Gilligan has a plan to revolutionise how we construct our cities and towns. It begins with Material Evolution, the eco-conscious start-up company she founded in 2017.