Planera, a planning and planning platform for construction critical path methods, has raised $13.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Sierra Ventures, with participation from Sorenson Capital, Brick and Mortar Ventures, Prudence VC and Firebolt Ventures, the company said on August 27. .
The construction technology startup said the funding will allow it to accelerate the development and deployment of its visual planning tools for general contractors, specialty subcontractors and the entire construction industry. In its funding announcement, it said the shift from on-premises project management systems to cloud-based smart apps, multiplayer collaboration and visual planning is positioning the company well for the future.
“We care about democratizing programming, says Nitin Bhandari, CEO and co-founder of Planera. “We want to build something that’s accessible to everyone, up and down the stack and in the construction company, but also keep it powerful.”
He says Planera plans to expand its software’s outreach capabilities to trades subcontractors, since they’re the ones doing most of the work on jobsites.
Bhanderi adds that Planera is seeing strong demand for long-term and weekly planning tools. The company will also use the new funding to invest in advanced features such as quality controls, performance analysis and construction-specific artificial intelligence to better anticipate and manage unexpected project challenges. In addition, Planera plans to accelerate product development and expand sales and marketing efforts with the funding.
“The construction industry can drive better project outcomes only if the entire project team is involved in creating, maintaining and optimizing project schedules and plans on an ongoing basis,” said Troy Thompson, COO of Big-D Construction , a Planera user, in a statement. “Planera is the only platform that has allowed us to move our teams in this direction.”
