AI Outfit Nabs $55M For Construction Tech
Construction documentation and analysis company OpenSpace grabbed $55M in a Series C funding round led by Alkeon Capital Management.
Other Series C contributors include PSP Partners, GreenPoint Partners, New World Development, Lux Capital, Menlo Ventures, JLL Spark, Navitas Capital and Zigg Capital.
In addition to securing funding, OpenSpace has also expanded access to its ClearSight Progress Tracking platform to its entire customer base, according to a press release. The ClearSight platform allows for quick photo documentation of projects that is then processed through AI trackers that convert the images into quantitative data that can be viewed interactively.
The company said it would use the funding to expand the platform’s analytics capabilities in safety management and quality control and add more users internationally who seek to better benchmark and communicate job site performance.
OpenSpace connected Bisnow with two product users for their take on the technology.
“Initially, we tested OpenSpace on two projects,” Commodore Builders Director of Internal Operations Amanda Finnerty said. “A few weeks into the testing, we presented OpenSpace to our senior leadership team, and they were so impressed, they gave the approval to enter into an enterprise agreement just two months later. They wanted OpenSpace used on all of our projects. It was the quickest adoption of a platform that I have ever seen at Commodore Builders.”
Hitt Contracting Senior Vice President Peter Lanfranchi said that his firm realized that changes in the market necessitated a different approach to keeping large amounts of construction photos on cellphones in a disorganized manner.
“Industry professionals are busy. Having the technology and ability to virtually walk construction projects has changed how we communicate and operate,” Lanfranchi said. “Pre-Covid, OpenSpace was a great tool for communication, verification and documentation. During Covid [in] 2020, having the ability to show our clients and project teams the site weekly became invaluable.”
Lanfranchi said he expects the post-coronavirus use of OpenSpace to continue as the economy opens up and people begin traveling more, as the technology will allow documentation and analysis of projects to be done anywhere.
Finnerty, who said that Commodore is not paid to endorse or use OpenSpace, echoed that the technology was crucial during the pandemic, allowing property owners and architects the ability to conduct site tours from their office desks.
She cited a number of other benefits of the technology — efficiency, being better positioned to resolve post-project disputes and more easily calculating cost estimates — as reasons Commodore will continue to use OpenSpace on almost all of its projects.
During its Series A funding round in 2019, OpenSpace raised $14M from Lux Capital, Goldcrest Capital, JLL Spark, Navitas Capital, Suffolk Construction, Tishman Speyer, WeWork and Zigg Capital, as reported by Forbes.
Last July, the company grabbed $15.9M in a Series B round funded by Menlo Ventures, Nine Four Ventures, Taronga Group, Lux Capital, JLL Spark, Navitas Capital and Zigg Capital.
OpenSpace has a lengthy list of competitors that specialize in construction site photo documentation technology services, including Multivista, StructionSite, HoloBuilder, Photodocufy and Skysite.
Oakland-based StructionSite announced in May 2020 that it would provide 60 days of free access to its site documentation platform in light of the pandemic's harsh impact on the construction industry last year.
