Propeller, a 3D mapping and worksite analytics company that builds hardware and software to simplify data capture, processing, and analysis for construction, aggregates, mining, and waste management worksites, announced today that they have raised $18 million in Series B funding.
This round was co-led by Blackbird and Costanoa Ventures, long-time supporters and advocates of Propeller who displayed tremendous conviction in their decision to back Propeller amidst COVID-19-related uncertainties.
“Costanoa Ventures has been a proud investor at Propeller from the seed round until today, and are excited to see the significant progress at the company,” said Mark Selcow at Costanoa Ventures. “We initially invested because we saw an enormous opportunity for improvement in the management of large construction and earth moving projects, and believed in the superiority of the Propeller technology. We have continued to invest as we have seen the company emerge as category leaders, operate at high standards of excellence, and show real dedication to their customers. Propeller is firing on all cylinders.”
When asked what prompted the decision to seek additional capital, Rory San Miguel, CEO and co-founder of Propeller, cites two major forces at play—capacity to scale at a greater velocity and the launch of a new product called DirtMate.
DirtMate, a machine tracking system that collects progress and productivity data in real time, is currently in beta, but well-poised to make its mark on the earthmoving industry upon official release, which is projected for Q1 of next year.
“Our new product DirtMate is the real-time complement to our existing workflow,” explains San Miguel. “We’ve taken our existing GPS technology and created a version that’s easy to install on every earthmoving machine. As each machine is moving across the worksite, moving dirt, we track elevations to build surfaces in real-time, within a few centimeters of accuracy. With DirtMate, we move from being a retrospective tracking solution to a solution that can detect issues and suggest improvements in real time.”
From Q1 to Q2, Propeller experienced a historic uptick in platform engagement, with a 40% quarter-over-quarter increase in the number of surveys uploaded to the Propeller Platform.
“Propeller is one of the fastest-growing companies in our portfolio at a large scale, but more importantly is building a special culture that will allow it to make a large impact for many decades to come,” stated Niki Scevak, partner at Blackbird Ventures. “Blackbird is delighted to further empower the mission of Propeller and to allow large earthworks industries to take giant leaps forward by ingraining technology into their core operations.”
Propeller also announced today that Roz Buick, a thought leader and advocate for digital transformation in construction who served as Senior Vice President at Trimble for over 24 years, recently joined the Propeller board. Roz ran the heavy civil construction division at Trimble for nine years and was instrumental in establishing the SITECH channel partners—a wealth of relevant experience and relationships that she has since brought to the Propeller board.
Today, just a short while into its lifetime, the 138-strong Propeller team powers more than 4,000 worksites every month, stretched across over 50 different countries.
“All of this is made possible by Propeller’s epic team and epic customers who are ridiculously generous with their time in helping us solve real problems on site,” says San Miguel. “It’s very exciting to see Propeller hit its stride. We have a lot to be proud of and lots more to do.”
About Propeller
Propeller’s world-class drone analytics solutions help people measure and manage their sites themselves. Heavy civil construction and resources operations trust Propeller to track site changes safely and accurately, with 3D visual tools that everyone can use. Propeller gives teams the full picture, empowering people to go deeper, do more, and work together better.
