Procore procures a bundle, rides tsunami of VC tech investment

by ROB McMANAMY and TODD STOLARSKI | Jan 5, 2016

Just days after celebrating its one millionth user, Procore Technologies Inc. ended 2015 on an even higher note. The provider of cloud-based project management software announced Dec. 30 that it has received $50 million in new growth funding from venture capital investors.

Dow Jones reported last week that investors had “redoubled their commitment to Procore with a $50 million round of investment that valued the company at $500 million.” The cash will help to “further develop its suite of software tools for the construction industry and to sell its package more widely.”

Specifically, Procore CEO Craig “Tooey” Courtemanche said the firm’s new pre-emptive Series F funding stems from ICONIQ Capital, a global financial advisor that manages discretionary capital for wealthy tech execs. Existing investor Bessemer Venture Partners also contributed to the new round. Since its 2002 founding, the AEC single platform provider now has raised nearly $100 million in equity, says Dow Jones. “What an an amazing year for Procore!” said an excited Courtmanche in a post last week on his Twitter feed. His firm certainly has come a long way, “having launched when no one could count on an Internet connection at the jobsite”, he told Dow Jones.

Of course, Courtemanche and crew already were in high holiday spirits even before last week’s funding announcement. On Dec. 9, they released this joyously wacky video, filmed at Procore’s Carpinteria CA headquarters, to commemorate the milestone of its one millionth user.

Procore’s VC windfall concludes an extraordinary year of unprecedented tech investment in the AEC space. And it is a wave of investment that may not have crested.

Just in the last few months, BuiltWorlds has reported on new cash injections of $29 million for Flux Factory Inc., $40 million for PlanGrid; and $25 million for drone maker Skycatch, announced by Autodesk. Other industry news has cited sizable investments for firms like DAQRI, Rhumbix, VRcade, FieldLens, Fieldwire, Viewpoint, Textura, and more. All followed the late 2014 sale of Dodge Data & Analytics for $300 million to Palo Alto CA-based private equity firm Symphony Technology Group. Meanwhile, Caterpillar, Bechtel, Kiewit, and AECOM are just a few of the multinational AEC players pouring big dollars into sensors, apps, 3D-printing, UAVs –you name it– all of which are feeding the increasingly interconnected present and fast-approaching future of our industry.

Stay tuned for a fuller BW wrap-up soon on this veritable gold rush of AEC investor confidence.