Agave, a startup that has developed a unified API to connect more than 30 construction software systems, has announced a $2.9 million seed round led by Accel. The company’s goal is to address the issue of fragmented information and lack of communication between different construction software platforms that often leads to extra work for building teams.
Background
Many of the most popular construction software systems were developed several decades ago, and as a result, they don’t integrate smoothly with each other. This means that the data stored in these systems is fragmented, requiring manual transfer between applications. Agave’s four co-founders, Tom Reno, John Zucchi, Pooria Azimi, and Samantha Zhang, previously worked together at Graphiq, a data analysis and search engine startup now owned by Amazon. It was during their time at Graphiq that they first encountered the construction industry while working on a project for Procore, a leading construction management software company. This experience, combined with their expertise in building Alexa products during their tenure at Amazon, inspired them to start Agave.
Solving the Communication Problem
Agave currently connects with 33 software systems and has 950 endpoints on its API. It offers integration across three categories: cloud-based software, hosted systems, and on-prem solutions. Some of these systems, like Sage 300 CRE and Sage 100 Contractor, were developed decades ago but are still widely used in North America’s construction industry. Agave’s API enables various use cases, such as reading invoices from accounting systems, verifying insurance certificates before working with subcontractors, time tracking, payroll management, expense management, procurement and purchasing, and equipment tracking. Additionally, Agave provides real-time analytics, including daily logs and RFIs (requests for information) that can impact project status and milestones.
Competing with Other Solutions
Agave faces competition from in-house teams that develop their own integrations, generic infrastructure platform-as-a-service bypass systems, and industry-specific tools that cover single integrations. However, Agave differentiates itself by providing immediate access to partnered systems and its own API, saving companies time and resources. The team’s extensive domain knowledge and experience working directly with each integrated system also give them an advantage.
Key Takeaway
Agave raises $2.9 million in seed funding to further develop its unified API for connecting construction software systems. The startup aims to streamline workflows in the construction industry by addressing the issue of fragmented information and lack of communication between different software platforms. Agave’s API allows for seamless integration between various systems and enables real-time analytics, improving project management efficiency.
With 65 customers and a year-over-year revenue increase of fourfold, Agave plans to use the funding to hire more software engineers, expand its integrations, and scale its operations.
