Wichita-based Koch Industries has joined as a pre-seed investor of a new local construction communications startup called PLOT.
Koch, in fact, was an early backer of the yet-to-be-released concept.
In an effort to better streamline communication channels across the construction value chain, Koch partnered with the Indianapolis-based venture studio High Alpha Innovation to build PLOT, and most recently lead the startup's pre-seed round, according to a PLOT news release Wednesday.
As corporate partners, PLOT says Koch and High Alpha Innovation will advance the vision of creating a comprehensive platform that the company says could transform communications throughout the construction industry.
"PLOT is uniquely structured to take on today's communication challenges, and Chris' leadership adds a degree of expertise not seen anywhere else in the industry," said Jim DiAndreth, managing director at Koch's Georgia-Pacific Ventures, in the news release. "This is a big advancement for construction tech, and I can't wait to see what PLOT will accomplish."
Following a nationwide search, PLOT is now led by co-founder and CEO Chris Callen, a local entrepreneur who's no stranger to construction technology.
The initial concept for PLOT was the result of a collaborative effort between Koch and High Alpha Innovation focused on supply chain challenges, according to the news release. The company's early concept was furthered by feedback from construction suppliers, owners and trade contractors.
"By employing this venture studio approach, both Koch and our team at High Alpha Innovation were able to bring PLOT to market quickly," said High Alpha Innovation CEO Elliott Parker. "We are thrilled with the collaboration and look forward to supporting the PLOT team together as they scale."
As PLOT builds its initial product, the company says it is hiring for engineering talent and engaging a client base to provide platform feedback. Interested owners, contractors and suppliers can inquire online at getplot.com to test out the PLOT features.
"Construction technologies, whether built from internal or external perspectives, have often focused too much on documents and processes rather than teams and the people within them," Callen said in the release. "In building PLOT, we've expanded our focus to the lifeblood of a construction site — the workers and their teams — who have never had a software built to fully address their communication needs."
