Historically, business service technology has not been considered “sexy”, but the demand for innovation in the space is huge.
This demand has translated into a large number of fundraising activities for a company dedicated to simplifying the commercial contract process. On Friday, BuildersDeveloping software for commercial service contractors, it announced that it has raised $127 million in the C Series led by Meritech Capital, which estimates the company at $1 billion.
The valuation is “more than twice” of the valuation builder achieved in his last financing – $50 million B cycle Co-founder and CEO Alok Chanani said in May 2023 that it had only made a “up” salary increase of $36 million for existing investors. The latest capital infusion brings the company’s total exchange rate to $250 million.
Founded in 2018, Buildops in Los Angeles has established field service management software that helps commercial contractors in the U.S. and Canada through what it describes as “AI-driven automation”. The company claims its software can help contractors, including HVAC, pipeline, machinery and electrical, as well as fire and life safety, make fewer cost errors, reduce downtime and achieve higher profitability.
“I talk to the contractor every day […] And they will overturn their own world and make our world work, but the deck piles up on them with short staff, soaring costs and stuck in the Stone Age technology.
Iraqi Army veteran Chanani previously formed a commercial real estate group called “American Business”. Co-founder Neeraj Mittal was previously the Director of Engineering at Servicetitan. As for Buildops’ third co-founder, Steve Chew, who serves at Microsoft, Nextag and Fundly.
Mittal is no longer with the company, According to his LinkedIn.
BuildOps runs in a Software Service (SaaS) model, and its pricing by user forms part of an annual contract. The company has over 1,000 commercial contractor clients, including JH Kelly, Haynes Mechanical, Dynamic Systems Inc. and Baker Electric.
Chanini declined to disclose tough revenue figures, but noted that since the company launched its platform in 2020, Buildops has “multiplied”, with revenue exceeding “seven numbers” in the first year, and then tripled that number in 2021 and 2022.
According to Chanini, Buildops is not profitable yet because it focuses on “active expansion and investment in the future.”
Looking ahead, BuildOps plans to use new capital to expand its workforce and invest in product and technology development, especially its API architecture. This is also focusing on what Chanani calls a “strategic acquisition.”
Currently, Buildops has about 375 employees, a 50% increase from a year ago.
For Paul Madera, a partner and co-founder of Meritech Capital General, business services are “a huge and critical part of our economy and modern software is very unsatisfied”.
“The Alok and the Buildops team saw this opportunity early on and built the most complete business services operating system in the industry,” said Madera, who joined the Buildops board as part of the financing. “What we hear from contractors big and small is that Buildops has made a changing business operational and financially. On top of that, it enables them to better serve their customers.”
He told TechCrunch that his company was also the fact that builders focused solely on the business sector.
“Every customer […] He said whether this is different, meaning the software needs to be highly configured, just like any other documented core system. BuildOps has determined the balance of product depth, flexibility and usability in a very unique way. ”
Interestingly, TechCrunch Editor-in-Chief Connie Loizos fixed Buildops as one of the most famous young startups of 2019 piece.
SE Ventures of New Backers Bond Capital and Schneider Electric also competed in the C Series of Buildops, as well as existing supporters Fika Ventures, Next47, Stepstone Group and Titanium Ventures. Earlier builder investors include 01A (formerly known as O1 Consultant, founded by former Twitter executives Dick Costolo and Adam Bain), Founders Foundation, Metaprio B Capital, 137 Ventures and Liquid2.
