AI-powered construction project platform OpenSpace nabs $55M

OpenSpace, a platform that helps construction companies track building projects through AI-powered analytics and 360-degree photo documentation, has raised $55 million in a series C round of funding led by Alkeon Capital Management.

The raise comes amid a cross-industry digital transformation boom, spurred in large part by the pandemic. Construction has often lagged behind other sectors in terms of efficiency, but technology such as robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and remote collaboration tools have played a sizable role in getting the $11 trillion industry back on track.

Visibility

Founded out of San Francisco in 2017, OpenSpace leans on AI to create 360-degree photos of construction sites, which are captured by builders or site managers who traverse an area with cameras strapped to their hats. All the imagery is sent to the cloud, where computer vision and machine intelligence tools arrange, stitch, and map the capture visuals to the associated project plans. It’s all about documenting activities on each site so stakeholders can check in on progress from afar or resolve conflicts that arise by checking back on a visual history of the project’s evolution.

Above: OpenSpace: site comparisons

OpenSpace also offers AI-powered analytics, including “progress tracking,” which uses computer vision to analyze site images and automatically figure out how much of the scheduled work has been completed. Elsewhere, “object search” enables site managers to select an object from a scene and find similar objects elsewhere on the site.

Above: OpenSpace: object search

Other notable players in the space include SiteAware and Buildots, both of which have raised sizable VC investments over the past nine months, highlighting the growing demand for digital technologies in the construction space.

Prior to now, OpenSpace had raised around $34 million, including a $15.9 million series B last July. With its latest cash injection, the company is well-financed to capitalize on its rapid growth over the past year, which it said has seen its revenue triple and customer count grow by 150%. With another $55 million in the bank, OpenSpace said it will double down on its suite of analytics products and expand them into areas such as safety management and quality control.