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HammerTech, a Melbourne-headquartered safety intelligence software platform used by more than a million workers globally, has received a US$70 million ($105 million) from California-based Riverwood Capital that will go towards spurring growth and further research and development (R&D).
HammerTech CEO Ben Leach, who co-founded the company with James Harris in 2013, describes this investment as a "pivotal moment" in the software group's evolution.
The investment will allow the company to build on its existing client base of more than 500 customers worldwide including contracting giants with multibillion-dollar turnovers, such as Shawmut Design and Construction, DPR Construction, and market leaders like Hutchinson in Australia and European contractor John Paul Construction.
The software has been used on more than 20,000 construction projects around the world, with more than 3.6 million workers inducted via the platform to date.
"We remain focused on delivering further efficiency gains through smarter workflows, keeping us at the forefront of construction technology to ultimately make construction sites safer.," Leach says.
"Working on a construction site is still one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, with the highest number of workplace fatalities of any industry. Sadly, many of these life-changing events are preventable.
"As projects become more complex, technologies must go beyond digitizing forms. We need to make day-to-day processes and activities easier for site teams so they can focus on working safely and doing what they do best – building."
Alongside its financial investment, Riverwood brings expertise in growing and scaling technology companies globally, guiding HammerTech as it continues its ambitious expansion strategy.
"HammerTech powers the safety programs for the most sophisticated construction firms in the world," says Riverwood's co-founder and managing partner Jeff Parks.
"Ben and the team have built an incredible business centered around delivering value to stakeholders, in an industry that is traditionally underserved by transformative technologies.
"We couldn't be more excited to partner with such a visionary team in the next phase of their growth as they bring a much-needed enterprise-wide safety intelligence software to new markets and customers."
Riverwood Capital partner Ramesh Venugopal says HammerTech is a mission-critical solution for modernising and automating job site safety.
"From general contractors to specialty contractors to asset owners, HammerTech delivers value that is driving tangible ROI all while making the job site a safer place to work," Venugopal says.
"We are impressed by its well-designed platform for onboarding and orientation, safety inspections, incident reporting, and job site compliance – with clear audit trails for lookbacks."
Growth equity firm Arrowroot Capital will remain a HammerTech shareholder after investing in the Melbourne-headquartered firm in 2019. Riverwood Capital will now have HammerTech board representation, in addition to Arrowroot Capital.
Lightning Partners served as financial advisor to HammerTech in connection with the transaction.
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