Highway Data Systems
Highway Data Systems builds automated quality assurance hardware and software for asphalt road construction, serving Tier 1 contractors (FM Conway, Holcim, Tarmac, Colas, Aggregate Industries) and infrastructure operators with thermal imaging, paver and roller monitoring, and plant control systems.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersAustin, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Highway Data Systems does
Highway Data Systems is a UK-headquartered industrial technology company, founded in 2011 and based in Glasgow with US operations in Texas, that builds automated quality assurance systems for the asphalt road construction sector. Its product suite combines hardware and software: eLoad for material and load management, eTec for paver monitoring, VisIR for thermal imaging and segregation detection, Optrix for roller pass and compaction monitoring, ePlant/eSilo for asphalt plant bin control, Laser Survey Systems for surface profiling, and the integrated EVO Suite platform that consolidates these modules. Customers include UK and European Tier 1 contractors (FM Conway, Aggregate Industries, Jacobs, Eurovia, Holcim, Tarmac, Breedon, Colas) as well as infrastructure assets such as Gatwick Airport and the Silverstone motor racing circuit.
The company monetises through a mix of hardware sales (sensors, thermal cameras, laser profilers), software licensing across its eLoad, eTec and EVO platforms, and professional services covering installation, calibration, training and ongoing technical support. Its technology is deployed on live paving sites and at asphalt plants, providing real-time monitoring of material temperature, segregation, paver and roller performance, and material handling. Transport Scotland's decision to mandate the company's thermal segregation monitoring technology on qualifying contracts marks it as the first highway authority worldwide to adopt the technology as a contractual requirement.
The business is at a scaling inflection point: it has roughly 70 employees, raised £1.25 million in growth funding from Maven Capital Partners via the British Business Bank regional programme in 2026, joined the CRH Ventures Roads of the Future Accelerator in 2024, and has built out a US operation led by a dedicated USA President appointed in 2023. The customer base, while diverse in logo count, is concentrated within a single end market — asphalt road construction and adjacent paved infrastructure — making exposure to UK and European infrastructure spending cycles the dominant commercial variable.
Highway Data Systems firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Highway Data Systems
- Legal name
- Highway Data Systems Ltd.
- Website
- https://highwaydatasystems.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Highway Data Systems builds automated quality assurance hardware and software for asphalt road construction, serving Tier 1 contractors (FM Conway, Holcim, Tarmac, Colas, Aggregate Industries) and infrastructure operators with thermal imaging, paver and roller monitoring, and plant control systems.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Highway Data Systems industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Road Construction Quality Assurance Technology
- NAICS
- Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (3345), Testing Laboratories and Services (54138)
- SIC
- Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Telematics/ELD & Onboard Data Recorder Diagnostics / Compliance Checks (TLAKANAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Pavers & Road Construction Equipment (IMAHAAAI)
Keywords
Where Highway Data Systems is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Austin
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Highway Data Systems business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Operations
Revenue model
- Hardware Systems Sales: Sale and deployment of proprietary monitoring hardware including eTec, VisIR, Optrix, ePlant, and eSilo systems for paver and roller monitoring, temperature measurement, and plant monitoring
- Software Licensing: eLoad software for materials delivery management, visualization platforms, and reporting systems available via app store and enterprise licensing
- Quality Assurance Services: Accredited test house providing automated materials testing as replacement for traditional technician-based compliance testing. Operates technology on behalf of contractors to deliver compliance data.
- Surveying Services: High-speed laser surveying services for surface macrotexture, surface regularity (IRI), rutting, and other road characteristics. Includes Gatwick runway, Silverstone racetrack, and Transport Scotland network surveys.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Highway Data Systems product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Highway Data Systems sells an integrated automated quality assurance (AQA) technology platform for asphalt road construction, combining proprietary hardware sensors (eTec paver monitors, VisIR thermal imaging, Optrix roller monitoring, ePlant/eSilo plant monitors, laser survey vehicles) with the eLoad Materials Delivery Management Software and a GIS-based visualization and reporting platform. The company also operates as a UKAS accredited test house, delivering compliance testing and high-speed laser surveying services as a replacement for traditional on-site materials technicians.
Product overview
Highway Data Systems offers a unified platform-plus-modules product architecture centered on automated quality assurance technology for the asphalt road construction industry. The core eLoad software (Materials Delivery Management System) integrates with the EVO hardware suite (eTec paver monitoring, VisIR thermal imaging, Optrix roller monitoring) and ePlant/eSilo plant monitoring to deliver end-to-end digitization of road construction quality assurance. Supporting modules include laser survey systems for surface testing and Compliance Testing Services where HDS operates its technology as a replacement for traditional materials technicians. All products feed data into the HDS Visualization and Reporting Platform with Power BI integration. The company also offers a Rate of Spread App for surface dressing operations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- eLoad Materials Delivery Management System Software that automates digital transfer of consignment note data to road construction teams, creating automated laying records and providing real-time material delivery tracking with GPS-referenced discharge location data. Designed for asphalt contractors and paving site teams.
- HDS Visualization and Reporting Platform GIS-based data visualization and reporting platform that dynamically presents all quality assurance data captured during road construction, integrated with Power BI for industry standard reporting formats. Designed for contractors, transport authorities, and asset managers.
- eTec Paver Monitoring System Paver-mounted hardware using dual infra-red temperature sensors to continuously measure asphalt delivery temperature at the paver augurs, with integrated high-accuracy GPS for material deposition tracking. Designed for asphalt paving contractors.
- VisIR Thermal Imaging System Thermal imaging camera mounted to paver canopy that continuously monitors temperature across the entire width of the asphalt mat to detect and reduce thermal segregation, improving compaction quality and pavement longevity. Designed for asphalt paving operations.
- Optrix Compaction Monitoring System Roller-mounted hardware featuring high-accuracy GPS tracking of roller movements and infra-red temperature sensors for continuous compaction monitoring, delivering real-time density information to roller drivers. Designed for asphalt compaction operations.
- EVO Suite (Integrated Hardware Platform) Industry-leading hardware suite combining eTec, VisIR, and Optrix technologies for comprehensive paver and roller monitoring during road construction, delivering real-time quality data to site operatives. Designed for contractors needing integrated quality assurance.
- ePlant Asphalt Plant Monitoring System Automatic infra-red monitoring system for asphalt batching plants that measures temperature during production and matches data automatically to material tickets, reporting to TX253 specification. Designed for asphalt producers and batchers.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 25% cost savings on employment of technicians
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Highway Data Systems
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Highway Data Systems technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
AI capability6 records
Feature8 records
Highway Data Systems partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- CRH VenturesflagshipSelected as one of eight companies in the prestigious CRH Ventures Roads of the Future Accelerator in Austin. Opportunity to pitch technology to leaders of CRH businesses, TxDOT, National Highways, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Ferrovial, Egis, Arup and Texas A&M University.
- Eurovia UKcorePartnership with Eurovia UK for thermal imaging system for measuring rate of spread of pre-coated chippings, nominated for TechFest Product of the Year award.
- WSPcorePartnership with WSP and others (BEAR Scotland, Amey, Aggregate Industries, Breedon, Tarmac) recognized in TechFest Best Use of New Technology category for automating materials technicians during highways maintenance and construction in Scotland.
- Transport ScotlandflagshipHDS technology selected as mandated solution for all contractors on Transport Scotland network following introduction of innovative new data capture specifications. HDS operates 14 paving crews across the network. First overseeing organisation worldwide to mandate automated QA technology.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Highway Data Systems competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Vaisala: Global leader in environmental and industrial measurement instruments (temperature, humidity, road weather). Vaisala's road weather and surface sensors target adjacent use cases (winter maintenance, surface state) but compete for the same industrial-instrumentation budgets and contractor data platforms that HDS addresses.
- Teledyne FLIR: Global thermal imaging and sensing hardware supplier whose infrared cameras and condition-monitoring systems are an enabling technology layer for HDS-style applications. FLIR is not a direct competitor at the road-construction QA layer, but supplies core sensor technology to many paving-monitoring OEMs.
- Wirtgen Group (VÖGELE, Hamm, BOMAG): John Deere-owned group of road construction equipment OEMs including VÖGELE (pavers), Hamm (rollers), and BOMAG (compactors). These are the equipment manufacturers that HDS's monitoring kits attach to — they are partners, customers, and competitive threats (if OEMs embed competing QA into their machines).
Broad incumbents
- Trimble: Large public technology provider whose Civil Construction & Paving portfolio (PCS, Earthworks Grade Control, Siteworks) competes with HDS at the paver, roller, and site-monitoring layer. Trimble is much broader in scope, but its paving suite directly overlaps HDS's positioning with contractors and DOTs in North America and Europe.
- Topcon Positioning Group: Provides GNSS-based machine control, paving and compaction solutions, and site positioning hardware used by road contractors worldwide. Topcon's SmoothRide road resurfacing solution and MAGNET software suite compete with HDS's eLoad, Optrix, and visualisation platform offerings at the heavy-civil contractor layer.
- Caterpillar (Cat Connect): World's largest construction equipment OEM, whose Cat Connect platform embeds payload, grade, and compaction monitoring directly into new machines. Caterpillar competes indirectly by bundling similar telemetry and compaction analytics into pavers and rollers, leveraging OEM relationships that HDS must sell around.
- Iteris: US-based intelligent transportation systems and roadway analytics provider serving DOTs and municipalities with sensor, traffic, and pavement data platforms. Iteris is broader than HDS (traffic management, smart mobility), but its pavement and asset management offerings compete for the same transportation-authority budget that funds HDS deployments.
- Hexagon (Leica Geosystems / B2W Software): Hexagon owns Leica Geosystems (road-surface scanning via LCMS, mobile mapping) and B2W Software (heavy-civil estimating and field management). The combined portfolio overlaps HDS's laser survey, asset data, and paving QA offerings, and Hexagon's scale dwarfs HDS across surveying, software, and instrumentation.
Emerging players
- RoadBotics (Michelin): US-based AI road-condition assessment platform (now part of Michelin) that turns dash-cam or street-view imagery into pavement ratings. RoadBotics addresses a related but different layer (network-level asset condition) versus HDS's project-level paving QA, but both sell data-driven road quality insight to authorities and contractors.
Direct peers
- MOBA Mobile Automation: German-headquartered maker of Pave-IR (thermal segregation monitoring for asphalt pavers) and related paver/roller automation kits. MOBA is the most direct global competitor to HDS's eTec, VisIR, and Optrix systems, selling into the same contractors and authorities on similar value propositions (thermal imaging, GPS tracking, compaction monitoring).
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Highway Data Systems social profiles
Digital presenceHighway Data Systems compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Highway Data Systems financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Highway Data Systems leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Highway Data Systems subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Highway Data Systems funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Highway Data Systems M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Highway Data Systems
What does Highway Data Systems do?
Highway Data Systems sells an integrated automated quality assurance (AQA) technology platform for asphalt road construction, combining proprietary hardware sensors (eTec paver monitors, VisIR thermal imaging, Optrix roller monitoring, ePlant/eSilo plant monitors, laser survey vehicles) with the eLoad Materials Delivery Management Software and a GIS-based visualization and reporting platform. The company also operates as a UKAS accredited test house, delivering compliance testing and high-speed laser surveying services as a replacement for traditional on-site materials technicians.
Is Highway Data Systems a public or private company?
Highway Data Systems is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Highway Data Systems founded?
Highway Data Systems was founded in 2011. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Highway Data Systems based?
Highway Data Systems is headquartered in Austin, United States, in the North America region.
How does Highway Data Systems make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Hardware Systems Sales are the primary driver. The others are software Licensing, quality Assurance Services and surveying Services.
Who are Highway Data Systems's main competitors?
Others on record are Vaisala, Teledyne FLIR and Wirtgen Group (VÖGELE, Hamm, BOMAG). Broad incumbents are Trimble, Topcon Positioning Group, Caterpillar (Cat Connect), Iteris and Hexagon (Leica Geosystems / B2W Software). RoadBotics (Michelin) is listed as an emerging player. MOBA Mobile Automation is listed as a direct peer.
Does Highway Data Systems have an API?
No public API is recorded for Highway Data Systems.
What industry is Highway Data Systems in?
Highway Data Systems's product category is Road Construction Quality Assurance Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is TLAKANAE, Telematics/ELD & Onboard Data Recorder Diagnostics / Compliance Checks, with a secondary code of IMAHAAAI, Pavers & Road Construction Equipment. Its NAICS code is 3345 and its SIC code is 3823.