Construction-Tech Startup Buildots Raises $60M Series C

Buildots, a Tel Aviv- and London-based startup that builds software to help construction site managers track work and accurately pay subcontractors, raised $60 million to grow its business in the U.S.

Israel-based Viola Growth and Eyal Ofer’s O.G. Tech led the Series C, announced Tuesday. Buildots did not disclose a valuation with the round, which brings its total equity funding to more than $100 million. The startup raised $30 million in a Series B round a year ago.

The complexity of construction projects can make planning, tracking progress and paying subcontractors for incremental work difficult and time-consuming. Buildots’ software uses cameras mounted atop builders’ hardhats to gather data — how many electrical sockets have been installed, for example, and where — then uses artificial intelligence to draw conclusions from it.

“It’s an operations tool to help teams make better decisions, detect early warnings, and understand delays and other issues early,” CEO Roy Danon said.

Use of 360-degree cameras and AI to track progress on construction sites has been around for at least five years, and there are a handful of companies doing it, including Avvir, Disperse, OnsiteIQ and AirWork. Another, San Francisco-based OpenSpace, raised $102 million earlier this year at a valuation of more than $900 million.

Danon said Buildots’ software is differentiated from its competitors’ by its “deeper” analysis and ability to integrate with existing project management systems like Oracle’s Primavera P6, Asta’s Powerproject or Microsoft Project.

“We look at construction sites as if they were manufacturing plants,” Danon said. “The level of understanding we get in terms of, what does the end product — the building — look like and what should be done every day, is a big part of our intellectual property. We see ourselves as a process control system, not as a documentation system.”

Buildots is a subscription service, with a monthly rate adjusted to the size and complexity of a project. The company, founded in 2018, is not yet profitable, but it expects to quadruple its revenue this year compared to last, Danon said, declining to offer specifics.

The company operates in North America, Europe and the Middle East and will use the new funding to grow its operations in the U.S., where it hopes to triple its headcount. Its U.S. operations currently account for about a third of its business.

Existing investors including TLV Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Future Energy Ventures and Maor Investments also participated in the Series C round.