BIW founder and SaaS business leader Colin Smith joins the board of Austria’s PlanRadar.
AEC software-as-a-Service pioneer Colin Smith has been appointed to the board of the Vienna, Austria-based SaaS vendor PlanRadar. The web-based application provides construction documentation, defect and task management capabilities and is now expanding internationally, opening a UK office in London.
The PlanRadar platform works on smartphone and tablet (iOS, Android and Windows) and allows construction workers to automate the entire documentation process with interactive blueprints and floorplans, claiming to save an average of seven working hours per week in admin time and averting errors. The company says over 3,500 customers already use PlanRadar worldwide to manage construction projects and real estate processes. In the last 12 months, PlanRadar says it has increased sales by 300 per cent and expanded its workforce to 57 employees.
Ibrahim Imam, MD and co-founder of PlanRadar says:
“Risks around bottlenecks in the supply of construction materials and tradespeople can be mitigated with platforms like PlanRadar; digitised processes can raise their efficiency potential against the competition, improve quality control and deliver 900 per cent ROI. In light of our rapid growth in the past year and the positive international business outlook for 2019, we have moved our head office to a much larger facility in central Vienna to support the increased demand.”
As part of its European growth, PlanRadar is boosting its board with industry heavyweight Colin Smith, founder of the UK ConTech pioneer BIW Technologies, later CEO of the merged BIW/Conject business and then CEO of the European arm of construction payment management provider Textura before it was acquired by Oracle in 2016. Smith is also chair of Newcastle-based NBS (which launched its first SaaS application, NBS Chorus, in August 2018). He says:
“There’s a lot of interest in ConTech right now, but it doesn’t just mean modular housing and 3D printing. It means simple but effective innovation across the entire supply-chain. PlanRadar has developed an intuitive platform that has revolutionised how Europe manages the documentation and communication process of the asset lifecycle. Now it’s time for the UK to benefit”
“It’s exciting to join the company during such a fierce expansion process with ambitious growth plans in place. I get asked to work with a lot of ConTech businesses, but PlanRadar has technology that can be rapidly adopted – it just works. I’m really looking forward to seeing the impact this platform is going to have on the UK’s construction sector and the difference it will make.”
On Smith’s appointment, Imam said:
“With over three decades of experience at the leading-edge of construction technology and a respected industry figure, we are delighted to welcome Colin to the Board. It’s a testament to the exciting vision we have for the business. I look forward to working with him to help PlanRadar in the next phase of its growth.”
(I worked with Smith at BIW from 2000 to 2009; pwcom.co.uk later provided consultancy services to Conject and Textura.)
