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Commercial construction technology company BuildOps has arrived at “unicorn” status — a valuation of $1 billion — upon closing a Series C round of funding totaling $127 million, Inman has learned.
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A March 21 statement said that Meritech Capital Partners led the effort to advance the company it says is “transforming the trades with AI-driven tools and unmatched efficiency.”
Money will be directed to product growth and feature enhancement, critical customer support and general scaling to meet what the company calls “increasing demand from commercial contractors nationwide.”
The widespread needs of the construction space that blanket improving methods of communication, connecting processes and people, bridging vendors and better supporting tradespeople have been challenging to meet because of a history of disparate software applications only addressing specific problem areas, namely in the management of personnel and project oversight.
Unifying people and operations is a common concept in many industries but commercial construction’s nature of requiring a multitude of vendors, workers, certifications, technicians and professionals make streamlining a building project exceptionally arduous.
A single, vertical source to bind the fragmented applications has remained shrouded in a market full of proven but stand-alone systems. This is what BuildOps hopes to provide, according to the release.
“I talk to contractors every day — HVAC pros, plumbers, electricians — and they’re busting their backs keeping our world running, but the deck’s stacked against them with short staffs, skyrocketing costs and tech that’s stuck in the Stone Age,” said Alok Chanani, CEO of BuildOps, in a statement. “It fires me up because they deserve better — tools that don’t just keep up but actually let them run circles around the chaos. That’s what we’re building at BuildOps: a way for them to take charge, grow without breaking, and deliver like the heroes they are.”
Operational in all 50 states and Canada, BuildOps software is designed to alleviate scheduling confusion by syncing calendars and connecting dispatch operations with project management tasking and financial oversight. The intended results are to offer a more predictable environment for allaying risk, delivery delays and scope creep, among other benefits. It also helps project owners reduce dependence on superfluous staff when appropriate.
Venture capital has remained elusive for proptech in the last few years as funds have eyed existing revenue streams, dynamic, committed leadership and hard evidence a company has a market for its product. In brief, good ideas haven’t been enough. BuildOps’ previous funding rounds help prove its case to new investors, but the need for improving how commercial projects evolve from drawing to occupancy isn’t a tough concept for financiers to grasp.
BuildOps said in the release it’s on track to release more features toward the summer that will entail artificial intelligence-driven maintenance forecasting and equipment management. The company is based in Los Angeles.
