“With ALICE, general contractors can digitize their ‘means and methods’ — how they build — by capturing valuable institutional knowledge before older workers leave their companies,” Morkos said. “By enabling contractors to optimize their construction plans, ALICE helps companies to decrease build times and costs and boost margins. And by enabling contractors to create myriad different construction plans, ALICE enables them to chart a path that maximizes the probability that they will deliver on budget and on time, thus avoiding stiff penalties for missing deadlines.”
The construction industry appears ripe for innovation, with close to one million general contractors in the U.S. alone and anywhere between three million and five million workers on job sites every day. Investors certainly believe this to be the case — investment in construction tech hit a record $4.5 billion in 2021. But as the margin-challenged Procore and failure of SoftBank-backed Katerra illustrates, the market can be a tough nut to crack. One recent survey found that more than a third of construction firm employees are hesitant to try new technology.
But if Morkos harbors doubts about ALICE's runway, he didn’t show it. While declining to reveal customer and revenue figures, Morkos said that the company’s software is currently in use by firms including Bouygues Construction, Skanska, Kajima and Shimizu.
“The ALICE platform is now used by large general contractors worldwide to reduce project risk, increase profitability and digitize their ‘means and methods’ of construction,” Morkos said. “As inflation increases, general contractors are looking for ways to build more efficiently. The Alice platform can help them to do this by optimizing schedules, protecting their margins in difficult times. During tough times, competition for new projects increases. General contractors using the Alice platform have a distinct competitive advantage in bidding, as it enables them to maximize their odds of winning profitable business.”
Paul Lee, managing investor at Vanedge Capital, added: “In an industry that accepts major cost and schedule overruns as the norm, ALICE is poised to transform the way the world builds. The ALICE platform gives general contractors the ability to easily explore construction choices and chart a path that best balances risk, time and cost. This is a distinctive, high-growth business led by a uniquely qualified team, and we’re excited to support ALICE's growth and success.”
Menlo Park, California-based ALICE has more than 50 employees and plans to hire 20 more by the end of the year — bucking the trend. To date, the startup has raised $76.2 million in venture capital.
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