PinPoint Analytics, a Manalapan, N.J., startup that brings AI to the construction industry, has raised $3.2 million in seed funding led by Indianapolis’ HG Ventures, the venture arm of The Heritage Group. New York’s Compose VC participated. Subsequent to the funding, HG Ventures managing director Kip Frey was handed a board seat.
Co-founded by CEO Jim Carr and Earthworks founder Jeff Ciarcia, PinPoint Analytics helps prepare more precise competitive bids for infrastructure and building projects by using AI to evaluate historical price points for a range of products and services. It also runs a marketplace for the industry, connecting buyers and sellers.
Time-Saver
“Until now, construction companies’ estimating teams have had to make do with a labor-intensive process that relies on human judgment to fill in the gaps in the available data,” said Carr, whose previous startup Unifi Software was acquired by Dell. “Our platform leverages all the recent advances in AI and machine learning to remove the guesswork, saving a massive amount of time, producing higher quality estimates in a matter of minutes.”
Carr has two decades of startup and professional experience in data and analytics, and has enjoyed multiple successful startup exits. At PinPoint Analytics, he is soon to be assisted by Chief Operating officer Mark Zuradai. Ciarcia is a 25-year veteran of the public works heavy construction industry.
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Optimizing Bids
PinPoint Analytics says it is the first AI-powered construction estimating platform. It addresses an old pain point in the $200 billion industry — valuable data buried in historical project bids. The company has developed a machine learning platform that analyzes millions of data points and unearths valuable information, including pricing, to benefit a range of construction industry participants.
The company’s analytics platform also makes recommendations based on variables including materials, labor, equipment, supply chain logistics, and competitor analysis. Contractors can save hundreds of hours on the typical estimating process and still deliver a bid that has the lowest overall cost while optimizing margin, PinPoint Analytics claims.
“We are always seeking investments with the potential to transform the industries in which The Heritage Group operates, and PinPoint Analytics is a great example of that,” said Frey. “We have long understood that the use of machine learning is critical to the future success of the construction industry, but existing software solutions only provide a partial picture. PinPoint’s advanced algorithms change the game, and we see huge advantages for the whole sector.”
