Melbourne, Australia: Construction tech company Buildxact has raised $8.5 million led by Aconex co-founder Leigh Jasper. Mr Jasper will also join the Buildxact Board of Directors and take up an advisory position as Director of Innovation.
Buildxact provides easy-to-use estimating and job management software via a SaaS model to residential home builders and renovators. David Murray, CEO of Buildxact said that while other technology companies have focused on the big end of the construction industry, Buildxact has chosen to develop for a severely under-served segment of this large market.
“Residential builders lack fit-for-purpose tools and are often using spreadsheets and even paper to manage their business. They are in desperate need of easy-to-use technology to increase their efficiency and visibility into the business. That is why we’ve focused on developing integrated, intuitive and feature-rich solutions that are simple and affordable for this market. By streamlining the building process from quote to cash, our users are saving up to 80% of time in admin while improving their financial control,” he said.
The company is growing rapidly, with 100% year-on-year growth, and now serves a few thousand builders. However, the company has its eye on a larger market opportunity, with more than 600,000 builders in its target segment across Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and the UK. The funds raised will be used to accelerate the growth of the business, particularly through further investment in marketing to support the business’ expansion in Canada. The company also plans to launch into the USA and the UK in 2020. In addition, investment in the product will be increased to further strengthen its market leadership.
“The traction we’ve seen in recent years proves there is a need for our solution,” Mr Murray continued. “Following the establishment of a fit for purpose product, the company has invested in sales and marketing and accelerated its revenue and subscriber growth. With this injection of funds, we can increase our investment in our product to serve more of the industry, not just here but in our chosen international markets as well.
John Allison, Chairman and co-founder of Buildxact said, “We are very excited to have Leigh Jasper join the board and actively advise on innovation and our go-to-market strategy. With his expertise in SaaS and the construction sector, combined with his experience growing a global business, we gain a significant boost to the capability of the company.”
Speaking about his investment and new position at Buildxact, Mr Jasper said he is looking forward to stepping back into construction tech and helping create another global leader in the space.
“I’m impressed by what the Buildxact team has been able to achieve under David and John’s leadership. They’ve identified a clear market opportunity, developed a product that solves real pain points for builders, and have a proven track record of execution. I’m looking forward to joining Buildxact on the next part of the journey and creating another Australian success story,” Mr Jasper said.
Mr Jasper led the round with follow-on investment from existing shareholders and the addition of strategic investors including Perennial Investment Partners, SFO Ventures and Salta Capital.
According to The Wall Street Journal, venture capital investment in private construction technology companies increased from US$352 million in 2016 to more than US$6 billion in 2018. As of the end of June, investments totaled more than US$4 billion, indicating that capital injections into construction technology in 2019 could surpass those made in 2018.
About Buildxact:
Buildxact (buildxact.com.au) is a Melbourne-based company that develops estimating and job management software for residential builders. Founded in 2011, Buildxact creates technology to solve real pain points for residential home builders and renovators and drive innovation in the construction industry. Its fully-integrated cloud platform streamlines the building process from preparing quotes and costings to purchasing, scheduling, project management and invoicing. Integration with other SaaS software such as Xero, MYOB and Quickbooks fulfills the core needs of builders and trade businesses to look after cash flow and profit on projects.
For more information contact:
Lucie Buchan
T: +61 3 8866 1217
