Denver's Propeller, a 3D mapping and worksite analytics company, announced today that it has raised $18 million in Series B funding to more rapidly scale its operations.
Propeller builds hardware and software to simplify data capture, processing and analysis for construction, aggregates, mining and waste management worksites.
The round was co-led by Blackbird and Costanoa Ventures and will be used to scale quicker and launch a new product called DirtMate, CEO and co-founder Rory San Miguel said in a release.
DirtMate is a machine tracking system that collects progress and productivity data in real time and is currently in beta. The system's release is projected for the first quarter of next year.
"Our new product DirtMate is the real-time complement to our existing workflow," San Miguel said. "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."
Propeller launched in Sydney in 2014 and made its U.S. expansion with a Denver office in 2017. At the time, the company said Denver gave it the best balance of location and quality of life.
Currently, Propeller has 138 employees and powers more than 4,000 worksites every month, stretched across over 50 different countries. Prior to this round, the company closed a $10 million Series A in June 2018.
While Covid has impacted businesses worldwide, Propeller reported a 40% increase from the first quarter to second quarter of this year in the number of surveys uploaded to its platform.
"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," said 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."
The company has three open Denver positions posted on its website, across customer success, sales and HR.
In addition to the funding news, Propeller also announced today that industry veteran Roz Buick joined the Propeller board. Buick served as senior VP at Trimble for more than 24 years, and ran the heavy civil construction division.
