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Construction industry tech startup BuildPass has secured $7.5 million in a seed round led by Carthona Capital as the company pursues global expansion of its first AI-powered operating system for the building sector.
The Melbourne-based BuildPass, which was launched three years ago by Matt Perrot and Aaron Vanston, has been used on 9,000 construction sites by 30,000 subcontractors since inception with the business noting its growth rate is currently running at 10 per cent per month.
The seed round, which was also supported by Horizon VC, Saniel Ventures, Recursive Ventures, Massive Tech Ventures and Preston-Werner Ventures, will be used by BuildPass to “double-down on AI (artificial intelligence) product development, widen its Australian market share and enter the US market”.
“This is more than just a funding milestone: it’s a testament to the hard work of our incredible team and a significant step forward in moving forward the construction industry with AI-powered solutions,” says Perrott, who along with Vanston was a finalist in the recently held 2024 Melbourne Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
“The support from early angel investors has allowed us to build a world-class product and team.”
Perrott and Vanston launched BuildPass in 2021 following varied careers in tech and construction including stints at some of Australia's largest technology businesses.
Perrott, a former civil engineer who later turned his attention to software development, says he has always been “fascinated by construction tech”, while Vanston has a strong track record in marketing, web design and engineering leadership, with a tech background that includes leading large teams at REA Group (ASX: REA) and SEEK (ASX: SEK).
BuildPass has grown its team to more than 30 employees globally and supports more than 400 construction businesses nationally with “affordable, easy-to-use AI-powered software that increases productivity across worksite operations”. The platform also has facilitated the signing of over 415,000 Safe Work Method Statements and over 185,000 worker inductions.
Among the notable investors backing BuildPass are Saniel Ventures, which is led by Leigh Jasper who sold cloud platform Aconex for $1.6 billion, and Preston-Werner Ventures, which was launched by Tom Preston-Werner who sold coding giant GitHub for $7.5 billion to Microsoft.
“Smaller construction businesses have long been underserved, and Saniel has recognised this as a prime opportunity for disruption,” says Jasper.
“The BuildPass team has shown impressive traction and product momentum, and we’re excited to support them in driving greater efficiency across the construction industry.”
BuildPass uses artificial intelligence technologies from OpenAI and Anthropic to underpin aspects of its capability and intuitive user experience. Through integrating progressive AI models, this enables BuildPass platform features such as computer vision which identifies and detects items within photos of construction settings. It also supports the automated defect recognition and site monitoring abilities of the software.
“We were incredibly excited to lead BuildPass’ seed funding round and partner with the team as they look to capitalise on the rapid advancements in AI and roll-out their platform for the construction industry on a global scale,” says Carthona Capital principal Jonathan Chow.
“Having known Matt and Aaron for a long time, we have been extremely impressed with their ability to build a world-class product team that is rapidly shipping AI-native solutions for their SMB and mid-market customers.”
While BuildPass is looking to take its technology to the US, the startup is also aiming to further grow its footprint in Australia, with a focus on small- to medium-sized businesses and mid-market construction companies which are estimated to account for about 98 per cent of the sector.
“We are so proud of how the business has grown in just a few short years, and this latest financial milestone underscores the confidence investors have in the market,” says Perrott, who is CEO of BuildPass.
“Much of the innovation we are seeing across construction AI locally is being driven by startups and smaller tech firms. This funding will help us further establish the AI-native construction technology class, which is bringing together key aspects of the fragmented construction software space into a more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable platform for organisations of all sizes.
“It is a difficult time for construction businesses in Australia, so we are focused on supporting companies by providing customisable digital tools that improve productivity and ultimately help to lift a builder’s bottom line.”
BuildPass is continually adding to its product offering and this year rolled out five new AI-driven modules that are helping embattled Australian builders address productivity bottlenecks to maintain profitability.
“Construction globally is grappling with a productivity crisis, however all-in-one software that harnesses the power of AI is certainly playing a role in remedying the situation,” says Vanston, the chief technology officer of BuildPass.
“One of the biggest productivity problems we are hoping to solve through intuitive design and AI is addressing digital literacy gaps among construction workers.
“We are placing great emphasis on empowering current and future workers to have confidence in digital innovations like ours, which can be rolled out quickly across a workforce without the need for extensive training.”
The BuildPass founders established the company on a mission to bring to the construction industry the same high-quality technology that other business sectors use. They recognised that intuitive software, designed to improve safety and streamline workflows, should be accessible to all builders and not just large organisations.
In a LinkedIn post announcing the seed round, Perrott acknowledged how far BuildPass has come since the early days.
“When Aaron and I wrote the first code for BuildPass, we had no idea about the ride we were in for,” he says.
“We’re lucky to call some of the most reputable builders our customers. We thank you for the feedback and support that you provide every single day.”
Perrott also acknowledged the support of the earliest customers of BuildPass “who dealt with a less-than-perfect product back in 2021”.
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