Our Story
The best tendering software on the planet*
(*according to us)
Our work got started when we realised construction professionals were spending too much time at theirs.
From manually pulling together tenders, staying on top of construction documentation, or chasing people up, estimating can be a pretty tough slog. So we set about developing a smarter, simpler software platform to help out builders, suppliers and subbies alike.
It took two to create EstimateOne.
In one corner was Michael Ashcroft, an estimator with some of Australia’s biggest construction companies. In the other, Andrew Ritchie – a whiz on computers.
It’s been over a decade since Michael and Andrew put their heads together. And tendering has come a long way since.
Today we have a team of over 120 members located across Australia and the UK, and we’re growing fast. We all feel proud to have helped over 45,000 organisations win their share of over $305 billion worth of work since we opened shop. We continue to launch more products and help more commercial construction professionals every day, and we’re excited about what lies ahead.
2008
EstimateOne is formed
Mike and Andrew put their heads together and start sketching out concepts for a digital tender workflow system. Over beers. Many beers.
2009
We sign our first customer
P&R Air Conditioning becomes the very first subscriber to our Weekly Tender Report (WTR). Within a few weeks, that number jumps from 1 to 30.
2010
We form a working prototype
We demonstrate our tender workflow software to three key builders. The feedback’s positive, but there’s a common theme: “Subbies won’t use this!”
2011
We launch the tender noticeboard
Mike and Andrew change tack. They build a tender noticeboard for subcontractors and suppliers, listing open commercial tenders. It’s a hit.
2012
We release the tender documentation platform
After getting requests from a whole bunch of builders, EstimateOne is expanded to support the delivery of tender documents to subcontractors and suppliers. We have over 500 subbies on month-to-month billing plans.
2013
We have 35,000 subcontractors using the platform
The platform becomes very popular with subcontractors across Australia – who value it for its ease of use, as well as the number of projects available.
2014
We launch in New Zealand
EstimateOne goes multinational. We discover the same process problems in New Zealand, and the platform is a hit across the ditch as well.
2015
We sign our 200th builder client
And with that, we establish our position as the clear market leader in the tender workflow and RFQ-issuing space. It feels great.
2016
We release a handover and delivery platform
We go beyond estimating for the first time – launching a new builder product to help delivery and site teams communicate more effectively with subbies and suppliers.
2017
We’re officially the most popular document distribution platform
With 60,000 subcontractors now using the platform across Australia and New Zealand, we’re quickly becoming the dominant pre-construction platform in the region.
2018
We look to new international markets
Celebrating 10 years since our inception, we look to Asia Pacific – adding the Philippines to our roll call, where head contractors appreciate a simpler way to manage the tender process.
2019
We go to the UK
We look further abroad to the UK and continued efforts in the Asia-Pacific. We develop our first mobile app to give our members access to their address book when out on site or on the road.
2020
We release new features to help manage quotes
We give subbies the ability to upload quotes and send them to pricing builders, and help builder manage those quotes on their side. We also launch a consultant details feature to help suppliers. Back to our story
