Buildots Secures $45M for AI-Powered Construction Management Platform

Buildots raises $45M to help companies track construction progress | TechCrunch

In the construction industry, managers can easily become disconnected from what's happening on-site. Among the many tasks to juggle are staying apprised of costs, communicating with all stakeholders, and assessing risk related to aspects like contractor billing and performance. Buildots wants to change all of that through AI and computer vision. Founded in 2018 by Roy Danon, Aviv Leibovici and Yakir Sudry, the Chicago startup offers a platform that tracks construction progress by processing images captured from 360-degree cameras mounted on managers' hard hats. The system doesn't just observe; it also forecasts. Teams can use a chatbot to ask questions about a project's status, and check a predictive tool that alerts them to possible delay risks or pacing issues that could turn into costly problems. "It's transformative for site managers, construction executives, and other stakeholders," said Danon, Buildots' CEO, who tells TechCrunch the company's clients include Intel and around 50 construction firms. "[They're] able to make informed decisions based on real, measurable data as opposed to information trickling in at different times from different sources and with different levels of reliability." To build on its momentum, Buildots has raised $45 million in a Series D funding round led by Qumra Capital, with participation from OG Venture Partners, TLV Partners, Poalim Equity, Future Energy Ventures, and Viola Growth. The new cash brings the company's total raised to $166 million. According to Danon, the capital will mainly be used to expand Buildot's product to "cover more stages of the construction lifecycle." The plan is to use historical data to train AI models to further benchmark -- and optimize -- construction project performance. Buildots isn't the only company applying AI in the construction domain. Others include BeamUp, which is developing an AI-powered building design platform, and Versatile, which -- like Buildots -- captures and analyzes data across the construction site to provide a picture of construction progress. With over 230 employees, Buildots ranks among the larger players in the space -- and it's planning to expand its North American operations this year, with a focus on growing its R&D teams. "[Our] differentiation is strong due to our operations-focused platform and our approach to performance management in construction," Danon said. "The funding will accelerate all of [our] initiatives, but more importantly, it validates that the market is ready for the transformation that we're bringing."

Buildots raises $45M for its AI-powered construction management platform - SiliconANGLE

Buildots raises $45M for its AI-powered construction management platform Buildots Inc., a construction software startup helping Intel Corp. build fabs faster, today announced that it has raised $45 million in funding. Qumra Capital led the Series D investment. It was joined by OG Venture Partners, TLV Partners, Poalim Equity, Future Energy Ventures and Viola Growth. The round brings Buildots' total outside funding to $166 million. During construction projects, quality assurance professionals actively monitor the building work for potential errors and delays. Chicago-based Buildots offers a cloud platform that promises to ease the task. The software helps quality assurance teams quickly access the building data needed for their work. According to Buildots, an artificial intelligence assistant called Dot makes it possible to retrieve technical information with natural language prompts. A worker could, for example, ask about the status of the electric wiring in a new building. Dot can also retrieve more granular data about individual construction activities. Another tool in Buildots' interface allows users to access images of the building section they wish to review. The platform also brings up the section's floor plan, as well as a list of outstanding construction tasks. Buildots can point out if there are any errors that may lead to building defects down the line. Alongside quality issues, the platform identifies project delays. An analytics dashboard tracks the speed at which each construction activity is being carried out to determine whether deadlines will be met. Buildots can, for example, calculate the average number of sprinklers that are being installed per week. The platform also promises to ease a number of related tasks. A spreadsheet-like interface section allows managers to track payments to the subcontractors involved in a construction project. Additionally, the platform aggregates high-level project metrics such as the total number of construction tasks completed during a given month. Buildots collects project data by analyzing footage from 360-degree cameras attached to construction managers' hard hats. According to the company, the information is processed by internally-developed AI models that it trained on millions of construction-related data points. Buildots says that its platform has been adopted by about 50 construction companies. Additionally, Intel is using the software to support its fab network expansion efforts. Buildots claims to have helped the chipmaker avoid about four weeks' worth of construction delays per fab and reduce costs in the process. "We're already seeing a shift from project-by-project tech adoption to long-term enterprise agreements, with multiple seven-figure deals signed so far this year," said Buildots co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Roy Danon.