Construction startup Rhumbix raises $14.3M Series B to disrupt the multi-trillion dollar construction industry

According to market research, the U.S.-based construction tech startups saw $3.1 billion in new funding in 2018, a 324 percent increase over 2017. What has historically been a paper and pencil industry is now embracing digitization as a way of maximizing productivity and profit with major investors recognizing the potential within the $1.3 trillion industry.

Recognizing these opportunities to disrupt the multi-trillion dollar construction industry, a slew of startups are focused strictly on developing technologies to make construction projects go more smoothly while increasing productivity and efficiencies. One of these startups is Rhumbix, a mobile platform designed to modernize construction field operations, helping builders go paperless in the field and improving how they measure and manage labor productivity to be more profitable. Rhumbix was founded in 2014 by Navy veterans, Drew DeWalt and Zachary Scheel with deep experience in the construction industry.

Today, the San Francisco, California-based Rhumbix announced it has closed a $14.3 million Series B round of funding led by Blackhorn Ventures and Tenfore Holdings, with participation from Greylock Partners, S28 Capital, South Park Ventures, and Glynn Capital. The San Francisco-based construction tech company, launched by two U.S. Navy veterans in 2014, modernizes construction field operations, helping builders go paperless in the field and improve how they measure and manage labor productivity.

“There are extraordinary advances taking place in the industry on many fronts,” said Rhumbix Co-Founder and CEO Zach Scheel. “From the deployment of semi-autonomous robots on project sites to the emergence of digital twins as a system of record for progress reporting and as-builts, construction tech is moving at lightning speed. But at the field level there’s still a shortage of digital tools for tradesmen and women. The Rhumbix platform is designed “Workers First” to ensure rapid adoption and provide them with intuitive digital tools to share data in real-time and communicate with all project stakeholders. Our platform significantly decreases the administrative time required to collect, analyze, and draw insights from field data, while also increasing the quality and accuracy of data collected and enabling end-to-end digital workflows.”

Rhumbix modernizes construction field operations, helping builders go paperless in the field and improving how they measure and manage labor productivity. Its Field Intelligence Platform is a cloud-based mobile workforce management solution that collects and digitizes data from previously paper-based workflows. This ensures all project stakeholders have the best data, when they need it, to make better decisions and draw actionable insights setting a standard for the “digital age” foreman.

“We’re excited to increase our investment in the Rhumbix team,” said Trevor Zimmerman, managing partner of Blackhorn Ventures, which previously led a $7.35M Series A funding round with Rhumbix. “The growth in the construction tech space generally, and especially for Rhumbix, has been remarkable. Rhumbix is digitizing one of the world’s largest industries and delivering a strong return on investment for its customers while improving resource efficiency in the process.”

“The construction industry is a massive market undergoing increasing digitization and innovation,” said Dan Levine, managing partner of Tenfore Holdings. “Rhumbix helps to unlock data that has previously been trapped in the construction site. Its data-driven technology provides construction workers, general contractors, and sub-contractors with new insights that have previously been inaccessible.”

While builders have long-embraced digitization, it’s been a trickle-down process to reach the field. Rhumbix, with both Android and iOS versions of its platform, has focused on providing digital tools to owners, general contractors, and subcontractors, allowing data to flow seamlessly through a universal platform, for a fully inclusive, end-to-end solution.

“We’ve been fortunate to partner with investors and companies that understand what happens in the field directly impacts what happens in the office,” said Co-Founder and COO Drew DeWalt. “Greater efficiency at every stage of the building process eliminates much of the guessing game that previously took place. It’s remarkable to see how quickly things are changing and we’re fortunate to have a front-row seat.”