Field image capture technology provider Buildots has raised £12m in funding to fuel its expansion plan.
Tel Aviv, Israel-based startup Buildots has raised £12m (US$16m) in venture capital backing to fund its expansion plans (reports The Construction Index and TechCrunch).
As described in Extranet Evolution in December 2019, Buildots’ solution combines 360-degree body-worn cameras with artificial intelligence for automated detection of schedule and design discrepancies. It aims to help contractors more effectively manage the plan, execute, measure and optimise cycle – especially the measure and optimise steps. The toolset compares captured visual data with what is scheduled in the project programme and what has been designed.
The new funding includes a previously unreported $3 million seed round and a $13 million Series A round, both led by TLV Partners. Other investors include Innogy Ventures, Tidhar Construction Group, Ziv Aviram (co-founder of Mobileye & OrCam), Magma Ventures head Zvika Limon, serial entrepreneurs Benny Schnaider and Avigdor Willenz, and Tidhar chairman Gil Geva.
CEO Roy Danon said:
“Since founding the company, we have managed to prove both technical feasibility and product-market fit, by deploying the product on large-scale construction projects and showing huge returns for our customers. This new funding round is a great sign of confidence by existing and new investors, and will be used to scale and improve our product, and expand to new regions.”
Gil Geva said:
“Buildots have been able to solve a challenge that for many seemed unconquerable, delivering huge potential for changing the way we complete our projects. The combination of an ambitious vision, great team and strong execution abilities quickly led us from being a customer to joining as an investor to take part in their journey.”
Buildots grows in UK
The company has been growing its UK workforce in 2020, recruiting former CBRE project manager Patrick Scannell and – according to industry sources – at least one former Viewpoint employee (Viewpoint’s Newcastle, UK-based team has been a rich recruiting ground for other AEC technology vendors; former employees are now at Asite, Bentley Systems, Dalux, eviFile, Glider and Procore, among others). Buildots has also joined the UK BIM Alliance as a patron and as a member of its technology group. Outside Israel and the UK, the COVID-19 pandemic has helped Buildots push into other geographies. TechCrunch says the company has projects in Poland and Japan.
