Autodesk leads a strategic investment in Bridgit, and plans integration between Bridgit Bench and Autodesk Construction Cloud.
Toronto, Canada-based construction SaaS technology developer Bridgit has announced (news release) that it has raised US$7 million in a funding round led by Autodesk, and supported by existing investors, BDS, Salesforce Ventures, Sands Capital and StandUp Ventures. This latest investment brings the total amount of equity financing the company has raised to date to US$15.7 million.
Bridgit says it plans to use this financing to increase its pace of technology innovation, add new partner integrations and build more advanced features, all of which will help contractors better understand their workforce utilisation and resource planning.
Bridgit built a strong foothold in the North American construction market with its mobile inspections and punch list management platform, Bridgit Field, later adding a reporting capability, Bridgit Insights (post).
Bridgit Bench
In May 2019, Bridgit launched its second major offering, Bridgit Bench, a resource planning platform built specifically for construction. This enables team leaders to manage their workforce and plan team projects through a centralised platform. Employers can view each employee’s current and past projects, any workload issues, contact information, and details, including custom attributes, such as certifications. The application was intended to help contractors replace unreliable spreadsheets, and, in October 2019, an integration between Bridgit Bench and the widely used US-based construction project management platform Procore was announced.
Integration with Autodesk’s construction solutions is now firmly on the radar. Mallorie Brodie, CEO and co-founder at Bridgit, says
“Over the last three months, Bridgit has experienced a 72 percent increase in usage across our customer base, both in the US and Canada. With construction recently restricted and projects delayed, contractors have needed to shift their processes and are demanding the workforce data and insights that Bridgit provides. The new funding will allow us to empower contractors to use their resources effectively, build more efficiently, and with Autodesk, have a more complete picture of people and projects across their organization.”
Autodesk’s financing in Bridgit increases its investment in the construction space, after a flurry of acquisitions in 2018 and 2019 formed the basis of its Autodesk Construction Cloud, launched in late 2019 (post). Jim Lynch, vice president and general manager at Autodesk Construction Solutions, says:
“Planning and managing resources for construction projects is difficult in the best conditions, and today’s work environment creates even greater challenges. Bridgit gives contractors greater visibility and control by providing them with the actionable insights they need to optimize resources for project success and long-term business resiliency. The strong adoption of Bridgit’s solution underscores the value of connecting people and data across the entire building lifecycle.”
Bridgit plans to integrate workflows between Bridgit Bench and Autodesk Construction Cloud, providing a key link between pre-construction resource planning and site execution project management.
Update (20 November 2020) – In advance of a session at Autodesk University 2020, Bridgit has launched an integration between Bridgit Bench and Autodesk Construction Cloud solutions BIM 360 and BuildingConnected (news release).
