ProcurePro to save billions of hours in construction, raises $6.15M from AirTree, ex-Aconex founder
ProcurePro, a technology platform revolutionising procurement for the construction industry, has today announced a funding round of A$6.15 million, led by AirTree Ventures and Aconex Co-Founder Leigh Jasper’s Saniel Ventures.
Australia’s construction industry has been stretched to breaking point as record inflation in construction costs worsens devastating losses on fixed-price contracts causing a litany of insolvencies.
Approximately 80% of Head Contractors’ project costs are spent procuring specialist subcontractors. In a volatile market where costs inflate due to materials or labour shortages, speed to subcontracting is key to avoiding cost escalation.
“Where subcontractor prices used to be guaranteed for months, industry norms have changed to weeks or days as prices are still subject to movement” said Jack Hutchinson, Director, Hutchinson Builders.
ProcurePro enables construction firms to take control of their supply chain by consolidating 15+ fragmented procurement processes traditionally managed with Excel, Word and 1000s of emails, into a single paperless platform. With a centralised and more efficient process, builders are gaining visibility, consistency and control - resulting in 50% faster procurement.
ProcurePro Founder & CEO Mr Blenkin said, “The construction industry impacts every single one of us, every day - it builds the homes we live in, schools we learn in, buildings we work in & hospitals we heal in.”
“Procurement is mission critical to set projects up for success but is plagued by inefficiencies. After setting a budget to win a project, procurement is the last opportunity to materially impact and defend profit margin. Technology for procurement has been overlooked and use of legacy systems is rife, presenting a blue ocean opportunity on a global scale.”
“We’re on a mission to save one billion hours in unnecessary construction administration and are proud to have redefined how the industry works. To date we’ve automated 200,000+ hours of procurement tasks, a figure which grows exponentially each day.
In 2 years since its launch, ProcurePro is powering over $30 billion in construction value across 1000+ projects for some of the largest contractors in Australia & New Zealand, including Roberts Co, Hutchinson Builders, Hansen Yuncken, Richard Crookes Constructions, Kane Construction, McNab and more.
"ProcurePro has fundamentally changed how we operate. Our staff love it. We have so much more control and transparency” said Anthony Lillycrop, Commercial Manager at Roberts Co.
ProcurePro was founded in Brisbane, Queensland by Alastair Blenkin, Tom Newby, Nathan Dench, Jesse Dymond & Tim Rogers (ex-Hutchinson Builders), launching in 2021. Combined, the founding team brings together a wealth of experience spanning top tier law, construction management, enterprise software development and product design. The company has seen a commanding 300%+ year-on-year growth, bucking the tech downturn to grow both rapidly and efficiently.
With a team of 40+ staff across Australia and New Zealand, Co-Founders Mr Blenkin & Rogers have relocated to the UK to spearhead ProcurePro’s international expansion. ProcurePro is live across £300m of projects in the UK within weeks of establishing operations.
The capital raised from ProcurePro’s first venture round will help accelerate growth in the UK as a key expansion market, and cement its market-leading position across Australia and New Zealand.
“After doing a deep dive into the construction space, we found an industry grappling with disrupted supply chains, rapidly increasing operational costs and painful procurement processes; in other words, ready for ProcurePro. They’ve already got global momentum in a greenfield market backed up by best-in-class SaaS metrics, making for an exciting journey ahead, which we’re privileged to be joining them on.”
John Henderson, Partner, AirTree Ventures
“ProcurePro is another example of Australia leading the way in construction tech. Procurement in construction projects has long been a painful, opaque and manual process. By finally solving this problem, ProcurePro’s product lets customers save time and money and make better decisions about a project and their business. The team’s growth and penetration in Australia in a short period of time has been impressive and we’re excited to be joining them on the journey to take the business global.”
Leigh Jasper, Founder & CEO, Saniel Ventures
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