SmartPM’s $5.5m Series A: why we invested
Many OAC (owner-architect-contractor) meetings can be summarized: “What are we building? Is it on-time & on-budget?” But this north star is less obvious when investing in technology to enable the built environment. Or maybe not?
SmartPM is an industry-leading project controls platform transforming construction scheduling and enabling better decisions. These decisions — both in the field and at the office — will improve the likelihood of a project being on-time and on-budget. The secret to SmartPM’s success is its ability to supplement the existing construction process while equally applying artificial intelligence and critical path method (CPM) scheduling tools. The platform streamlines the essential tasks of an effective project controls function, enabling staff to swiftly understand “the current situation” and focus on “the next steps”.
How it works: SmartPM processes an existing P6, Microsoft Project or other schedule file through a simple upload. This allows a project to start using SmartPM at any point in time, maintaining the existing scheduling workflow, content, owner submissions, and legal validity. SmartPM works at all phases of a project — eliminating the need to wait for a new project to start using the tool.
After uploading, SmartPM evaluates the schedule quality. This straightforward grading system identifies logic breaks, dependencies, and other critical attributes. The schedule quality review serves as a valuable second set of eyes for schedule authors or as an audit tool for reviewers.
A user then navigates through a set of dashboards to understand project health — from clearly answering questions such as “are activities starting on time” to providing early warnings for potential schedule delays. These dashboards are designed for both top down views (i.e. a contractor home office overseeing a portfolio of projects) and bottom up views (i.e. a project engineer improving next week’s concrete pour sequencing based on activity status).
Where it is going: SmartPM delivers immense value to stakeholders throughout the construction process. This value is increasing as the company develops more features, including AI-powered analytics, enhanced control functions, and robust schedule forecasting tools.
SmartPM represents a unique combination of deep industry knowledge, product vision, dedication to customer success, and commitment to execution. We particularly admire Smart PM’s humble and growth-oriented culture. Our team is excited to join Building Ventures and the Nemetschek Group in supporting SmartPM’s continued growth through this Series A financing.
The Series A fundraising announcement can be found here.
