Bridgit, a construction-tech company looking to modernize workforce management and planning, raised $24 million in a Series B round.
Camber Creek and Storm Ventures led the round. Nine Four Ventures, a new investor, also participated, as did previous investors BDC Capital’s Women in Technology
Venture Fund, StandUp Ventures, Sands Capital and Vanedge Capital.
The company did not offer a specific valuation figure.
Toronto-based Bridgit, founded in 2013, will use the funds to further develop its flagship workforce intelligence platform, dubbed Bridgit Bench, and to build out its team.
Bridgit Bench allows general contractors to use data from previous projects to improve bidding, productivity and profitability, and to forecast workforce needs for future projects. General contractors typically have relied on Excel spreadsheets and whiteboards for workforce planning.
Bridgit pivoted to focus on its Bench product in 2019. Autodesk led the last strategic funding round for the company at that time.
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The company’s earlier fundraising centered around its Bridgit Field offering, a project management platform.
“Ultimately, it [project management] was an area where we felt like there wasn’t as much of an opportunity to continue broadening the product because of the competitive landscape,” co-founder and CEO Mallorie Brodie said in an interview.
Bridgit’s Series B comes at a tumultuous time for the construction industry, which has grappled with rising materials costs and scarce labor throughout the pandemic. General contractors require a range of skilled labor and a certain size workforce just to bid on projects.
Bridgit says its Bench offering can help general contractors retain and attract new talent by fine-tuning their labor sourcing. For example, Brodie said, the platform enables users to filter for workers who want to minimize commute time or who want to work on specific projects, or parts of projects.
“That general contractors can promise to keep an eye on someone’s professional experience, and can look out for opportunities that fit their career plans, is compelling for individuals looking to join a new contractor,” Brodie said.
Bridgit Bench does not have a direct competitor within the construction-tech industry, Brodie said. Procore, the dominant project management platform, offers a similar solution for subcontractors, but Bench is the only one tailored for general contractors’ workflow, she said.
The company said it has increased revenue by 140 percent since its 2019 fundraise. As of Oct. 26, it counts 16 percent of the largest U.S. general contractors by revenue as clients. Bridgit is targeting potential users with 75 or more employees.
It is also exploring opportunities adjacent to workforce planning, Brodie said.
“Contractors are really in the business of reducing risk,” she said. “Any way we’re able to help leverage that ‘people data’ to help their business reduce risk are areas that we’re looking into.”