Doxel Secures $40M Funding to Revolutionize Construction with AI

Doxel Secures $40 Million in Series B Funding

Doxel, a company specializing in construction progress tracking through computer vision software, has announced the successful completion of a $40 million Series B funding round.

Investment Details

Insight Partners spearheaded the investment, with contributions from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Amplo. This latest funding brings the total capital raised by the startup to $56.5 million since its founding in December 2015.

Andreessen Horowitz has consistently supported Doxel, participating in every funding stage from seed to Series B. Furthermore, Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev contributed to Doxel’s Series A round as an angel investor.

Company Growth and Valuation

Saurabh Ladha, co-founder and CEO, indicated that while the specific valuation remains undisclosed, it represents a “greater than 4x multiple” increase from the $12 million Series A round secured in early 2020. He characterized the Series B as an “opportunistic raise.”

Ladha explained that the company’s strong growth and booking momentum have allowed it to remain cash flow neutral, even with the full Series A funding still available. The company did not need to utilize those funds.

The Genesis of Doxel

The inspiration for Doxel stemmed from a personal experience for Ladha, where a two-year delay in a significant construction project in India nearly led to financial hardship for his family.

“I almost thought we’d lose our house,” Ladha shared. “It highlighted the substantial impact construction delays can have on people’s lives.” He realized early on that predictability is crucial for keeping projects on schedule and within budget.

This realization was reinforced by data showing that 90% of construction projects experience delays and exceed their allocated budgets, a statistic Ladha encountered after graduating from Stanford University.

Building a Predictive Platform

In 2015, Ladha partnered with Robin Singh, Doxel’s CTO, to establish Doxel and develop a “computer-vision-powered predictive analytics platform.” This platform is designed to assist owners and contractors in proactively addressing potential issues.

Doxel aims to be the “Waze for Construction,” offering a platform that anticipates and mitigates problems before they escalate.

Doxel’s Competitive Advantage

Ladha asserts that Doxel’s primary differentiator lies in its ability to provide forward-looking insights into construction projects.

“Unlike many competitors offering retrospective analytics, we deliver a predictive solution,” he stated. “Similar to how drivers rely on satellite technology to avoid traffic, our customers depend on our AI-powered Project Controls platform.”

Doxel focuses on monitoring projects, enabling teams to concentrate on problem-solving rather than issue identification.

The platform’s predictive analytics empower building owners and general contractors to identify critical risk factors that could jeopardize project success, before those risks become apparent.

The “Construction Encyclopedia”

Doxel has amassed a substantial dataset over time, which it refers to as a “Construction Encyclopedia.” This data resource aids in identifying potential risk factors, as by the time risks are typically discovered, it’s often too late to avoid cost overruns and delays.

Proven Results

According to Ladha, Doxel’s technology has enabled customers to achieve project budgets up to 11% lower than anticipated and experience an average productivity increase of 38%.

Platform Functionality

Doxel’s platform integrates multiple real-time data sources, including 360-degree images, Building Information Models (BIM) – or 3D designs – and budget and schedule information. This integration aims to provide both predictability and control for building owners and contractors.

The objective is to prevent cascading delays and escalating costs, ensuring projects remain on time and within budget.

“Other companies fail to connect data across field operations, accounting, and schedule management,” Ladha explained. “These are typically separate entities operating in isolation.”

The Cost of Delays

Ladha emphasized that the financial losses associated with project delays extend beyond cost overruns. Delays also impact revenue streams when projects are not completed on schedule.

For instance, a multifamily developer faces lost income from delayed sales or rentals of condo units.

Client Portfolio and Impact

Doxel has tracked tens of billions of dollars in capital expenditures for a diverse range of Fortune 500 companies, including Kaiser Permanente and Royal Dutch Shell. The company claims to have generated “tens of millions” of dollars in savings for its clients through its predictive technology.

“Our users are senior executives responsible for making multi-billion dollar decisions with limited weekly information,” Ladha said. “They need to know if they are on track with both cost and schedule.”

Investor Perspective

Nikhil Sachdev, managing director at Insight Partners, expressed enthusiasm for the scale of the problem Doxel is addressing, as well as the company’s traction with major enterprises and its robust, AI-driven software.

Customer feedback revealed a lack of accurate tools for predicting the future state of construction projects prior to using Doxel’s technology.

“Many construction management tools still rely on manual data entry or blueprint-tagged photos, requiring extensive manual analysis to gain project insights,” Sachdev noted. “Doxel is the only solution we’ve found that can ingest all relevant data, leverage AI for processing, and accurately forecast project outcomes.”

Future Plans

Based in Redwood City, California, Doxel intends to utilize the new funding to expand its platform and increase its workforce across engineering, sales, marketing, and product development.

Currently employing 75 individuals across offices in the U.S. and Bangalore, Doxel aims to approximately double its team size within the next year.