Bob the Coder

An upcoming boom in software serving the construction industry will drive several new billion dollar scale-ups in the coming decade.

Construction is a trillion dollar industry characterised by challenges in productivity, logistics, cost control and work force scheduling. This kind of automation and RoI-driven opportunity is what software entrepreneurs and investors love.

Architects and Engineers have used software-based workflows for years, but barriers to adoption in the downstream construction and project management processes are only now being overcome.

One of my favourite construction software companies, PlanGrid, was just acquired by Autodesk for a healthy $875m. PlanGrid takes CAD drawings and delivers them (along with the process for iterating drawings) via onsite iPads.

We all know that software is eating the world. It hasn’t eaten much of Construction yet, but it will.