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Sydney-based construction-tech startup CalcTree has raised $3.8 million in a pre-seed round following a rapid take-up by engineering clients globally across more than 110 countries after its platform went live last year.
The round was led by Kungari in the first allocation of funds by the investment arm of Standards Australia which has taken close to a third of the capital raising. The pre-seed round was also supported by German venture capitalist Foundamental, US-based Suffolk Technologies and Antler VC.
CalcTree, a SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform that has signed up top-tier firms such as Arup, Jacobs and Aurecon, is described as a “category-defining solution” developed by engineers for the construction industry.
Co-founders Onur Ekinci, Mahan Lamei and Tim Rawling established the company at the end of 2021 to help engineers overcome laborious manual calculations and eliminate human error.
The debut investment by Standards Australia, the country’s leading standards organisation, is seen by the company as a milestone in the context of standards development organisations globally.
“Standards Australia’s investment in CalcTree is significant and really exciting. The funding will help us further improve our platform and deliver improved outcomes in quality and safety around the world,” says Ekinci.
“Standards Australia performs an important role in identifying best practice engineering knowledge, but practical implementation of this knowledge is essential.”
While CalcTree is currently targeting a boost to engineering productivity for the construction sector, it plans to extend the platform's reach to include other engineering-heavy industries.
The company notes that errors on large-scale engineering projects account for 7 per cent of construction value , which it says translates into “millions of dollars in rework” for commercial projects.
“Engineering calculations are notoriously manual, slow, and prone to human errors,” says the company. “CalcTree tackles this issue by allowing engineers to turn complex calculations into trusted and reusable templates and workflows.”
Since CalcTree’s public beta went live last year, the startup has secured users from more than 110 countries with the subscription service offering both “freemium” and paid plans. CalcTree says the rapid take-up has affirmed its capacity to scale globally.
The Berlin-based Foundamental, a global venture capitalist that invests in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector, says it decided to financially back CalcTree due to its ability to “drastically streamline engineering workflows”.
“Online collaboration tools are now a necessity, yet engineering workflows are being held back by antiquated systems that create inefficiencies and rework,” says Shubhankar Bhattacharya, general partner at Foundamental.
“CalcTree’s platform revolutionises the workflows of engineering calculations, enabling collaboration between cross-functional teams and democratising access to knowledge for AEC professionals across the globe. We are grateful to Onur, Tim and Mahan for choosing us as their partner on their journey.”
Antler, which is among the early-stage investors in CalcTree, sees potential for the startup to accelerate its impact globally.
“CalcTree is primed to streamline and create efficiencies for engineering workflows on a large scale,” says James McClure, partner at Antler Australia.
“We’re excited to see CalcTree move into the construction industry and other heavy engineering industries, such as resources, automotive and utilities, and grow its user base internationally. The platform has users from over 110 countries who see merit in CalcTree's integration-led approach.”
Standards Australia, which is committed to developing standards of value to Australian businesses and the public, says the investment in CalcTree meets its criteria to back businesses that are innovating to improve safety, efficiency and quality across the economy.
“Our investment in CalcTree highlights our commitment to innovation within the industries we serve, pushing the boundaries of digitisation, modernising access to standards and helping companies collaborate,” says Standards Australia’s chief development officer Adam Stingemore.
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