Construction management software firm Billdr relaunches as AI-native operating system, raises $3.2M 

Billdr, a software company building an AI-native operating system for construction, announced today it will relaunch its platform as an all-in-one operating system for small and mid-sized general contractors. 

The Montreal-based startup has also raised $3.2 million USD in a new seed funding round led by White Star Capital with participation from One Way Ventures, Desjardins Capital, asterX, and Formantera Capital, which will be allocated to consolidating the entire back office – from sales and finances to project management – into an integrated management system.

The relaunch of Billdr PRO marks a decisive shift for the company, which now positions itself as an all-in-one operating system, including everything from estimating and scheduling to change and purchase orders and procurement. 

Since launching its beta version just 18 months ago, Billdr PRO has grown to serve hundreds of general contractors across the United States and Canada, reaching seven-figure annual recurring revenue (ARR) and processing more than $10 million USD in payments volume. 

As it emerges as the centralized brain for construction, however, Billdr is also working to deploy a more integrated fintech structure, which considers bill pay, corporate cards, lending, insurance and real-time material pricing. 

Like many other startups, Billdr has shifted its long-term vision. Upon its founding in 2020, it originally operated as a home renovation marketplace, connecting homeowners with contractors. 

But, after facilitating thousands of projects – and more than $100 million in construction spend – the team realized the core bottleneck was not demand, but rather operations. 

“The horizontal software tools SMB contractors use were never built for the construction industry – we saw this firsthand in our early years in the trenches with GCs,” said Bertrand Nembot, Founder and CEO of Billdr. 

In 2023, then, the firm pivoted to focus exclusively on building a vertical, modern, intuitive and AI-native SaaS system for construction. 

“For over two years, we focused on building software, one feature at a time. We gained trust from GCs, one customer at a time. Today, we serve hundreds of construction businesses across the U.S. and Canada,” Bertrand explained.

Billdr, in fact, has acquired hundreds of paying customers, with a seven-figure ARR growing more than fourfold year over year with strong customer retention. Today, more than $1 billion USD in quotes are sent annually through the platform. 

In this, what once took the average small and medium-sized general contractor 10 to 20 hours per week while using outdated spreadsheets now takes half the time. 

Billdr plans to go even further with upcoming AI-native features including voice-to-action commands, AI receptionists for construction, and text-to-action agents which help manage workflows – hands-free. 

“Construction is one of the largest and least digitized sectors in the economy,” said Sanjay Zimmermann, General Partner at White Star Capital. 

“With a focused product, Billdr really stood out to us with a platform designed exclusively for the backbone of the industry: SMB GCs. They’re building a product that understands their workflows deeply and leverages AI to eliminate friction, not add complexity.”

Featured image: Courtesy of Billdr

Disclosure: This article mentions clients of an Espacio portfolio company.