Gearflow wants to eliminate equipment downtime in the construction industry and just secured more than $5 million to grow its platform.
The funding round was led by Brick & Mortar Ventures, with participation from Alumni Ventures, as well as existing investors Newark Venture Partners, Watchfire Ventures and Liquid2 Ventures.
Founded in 2018 by Ben Preston and Luke Powers, Gearflow connects construction equipment owners with parts suppliers in order to simplify the parts-ordering process and ultimately eliminate equipment downtime.
The platform’s nearly 4,000 users to date include contractors, rental companies, energy/utility fleets, government fleets, service shops and more, all looking to make parts procurement easier.
The Chicago startup has raised more than $10 million since 2018, but this latest round may have been its most challenging as VC fundraising activity continues to lag across the country with fewer startups able to secure financing.
Still, Preston thinks the company is uniquely situated to not only survive but thrive amid tough economic times. He said that some of the recent supply chain issues that have emerged in the last year actually created a good window of opportunity for the business.
“I felt like we had success given the times because of what a poor economy and backed-up supply chain means to our customer base," he said. "A lot of contractors are trying to maintain equipment they have for longer as opposed to buying new because a lot of the equipment is out until 2024."
Preston's goals for 2024 will be to refine the platform and product and to get Gearflow into more hands.
While most of the funding in the latest round came from the coasts, Preston felt that being in Chicago in construction tech has been a huge advantage for Gearflow because of its central location. The startup also has ties to Northwestern University as it won the college’s VentureCat competition in 2020 while Preston was a Kellogg MBA candidate.
Currently set up in a coworking space in downtown Chicago, the company has its sights on opening a new office in the next year, he said.
