EstimateOne secures $35 million in first capital raising
27 January 2022
EstimateOne Secures $35 million from Potentia Capital and Aconex co-founder Leigh Jasper in first capital raising
Melbourne, Australia – 27 January 2022: EstimateOne, Australia’s largest digital procurement platform for commercial construction, has today announced the completion of its first capital raise with a $35 million investment from Potentia Capital and Saniel Ventures. The deal includes $20 million of primary capital and a $15 million secondary investment.
Potentia Capital is a specialist private equity investor focussed on technology and tech-enabled businesses and is helmed by Co-Managing Director’s Tim Reed (President of the Business Council of Australia, and former CEO of MYOB), and Andy Gray (former Managing Director of Archer Capital). Saniel Ventures is a private investment group supporting high growth technology companies, backed by Leigh Jasper, co-founder of Aconex.
The market-leading EstimateOne platform connects commercial builders with subcontractors to deliver seamless, technology-enabled tendering and procurement, reducing cost and risk for the construction industry.
The investment will enable EstimateOne to scale up its product expansion strategy, building on pre-construction tendering into a suite of connected procurement workflows. It will also accelerate EstimateOne’s entry into new markets across Southeast Asia and North America, adding to its current footprint in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand.
EstimateOne was founded in 2008 in Melbourne by Andrew Ritchie and Michael Ashcroft, who set out to digitise commercial construction tendering. They continue to be major shareholders and will remain closely involved in the business as directors.
“Being ‘bootstrapped’ and profitable to date has allowed us to grow our business on our own terms,” Mr Ashcroft said. “As the construction industry is now at a turning point, driven by supply chain issues and labour shortages we recognise more than ever the value our platform offers, and that the business is ready to seek investment to deliver significant scale and growth.
“Procurement problems are very expensive for the industry and process execution and decision-making has not been well supported by technology. We want to change that. Construction technology is at a stage of rapid adoption and we have the insights, data, technology and a growing high-quality team ready to solve many of the problems that the industry faces. We are committed to delivering value through our connected network, helping customers make better decisions, and reducing costs and risks carried by builders, subcontractors and suppliers.”
“In Potentia and Saniel Ventures we’ve found capital partners that are aligned with our vision and are just as excited about the opportunity in construction technology as we are. They have already demonstrated immense value above and beyond just providing capital.”
Michael McNamara, Partner at Potentia Capital, said: “We are delighted to support EstimateOne in its next phase of growth. We’ve been highly impressed by EstimateOne’s founders and management team, the exceptional workplace culture and calibre of talent, the care and thought that has been given to the company’s vision and values, and its strong market position with a deeply engaged network of more than 50,000 builders, subcontractors and suppliers across Australia. We believe the construction sector is on the cusp of significant tech-led innovation, and look forward to supporting EstimateOne grow its leadership position in Australia and offshore.”
Leigh Jasper, formerly CEO of the construction management platform Aconex, who has partnered with Potentia on the deal, said: “EstimateOne streamlines the commercial construction supply chain by connecting contractors and their subbies to deliver better procurement outcomes. The company has strong technology and wide market penetration, providing the leading platform to deliver additional procurement tools and data services to benefit the industry as a whole.”
In early 2021, EstimateOne bolstered its executive team with the appointment of CEO Chris Dobbyn, who led the capital raise process.
Potentia’s Tim Reed and Michael McNamara will join the EstimateOne Board as Directors.
EstimateOne was supported by Adam Shapiro of UTA CFO Advisory and DLA Piper. Johnson, Winter & Slattery, EY and LEK advised Potentia Capital and Saniel Ventures.
Enquiries:
Amy Solomon
Cato & Clive
amy@catoandclive.com
+61 403 339 038
Natalie Feehan
EstimateOne
Chief Customer & Commercial Officer
natalie.feehan@estimateone.com
+61 413 443 355
