California-based technology-focused private equity firm Riverwood Capital has led a $105 million growth capital investment round in construction industry safety software company HammerTech.
HammerTech has not disclosed the size of Riverwood’s investment but the firm typically invests $US25 million to $US125 million ($37 million to $185 million) per company.
Melbourne-based HammerTech’s platform manages onboarding and orientation, safety inspections, incident reporting and job site compliance. The software maintains clear audit trails for review.
HammerTech plans to use the new capital to accelerate growth of its customer base and further develop its software, including integrating artificial intelligence (AI).
HammerTech chief executive and co-founder Ben Leach said: “We remain focused on delivering further efficiency gains through smarter workflows, keeping us at the forefront of construction technology to ultimately make construction sites safer.
“As projects become more complex, technologies must go beyond digitising forms. We need to make day-to-day processes and activities easier for site teams so they can focus on working safely and doing what they do best – building.”
Riverwood managing partner and co-founder Jeff Parks, said: “Ben and the team have built an incredible business centred around delivering value to stakeholders, in an industry that is traditionally underserved by transformative technologies.”
Riverwood partner Ramesh Venugopal added: “We view HammerTech as a mission critical solution for modernising and automating job site safety. From general contractors to specialty contractors to asset owners, HammerTech delivers value that is driving tangible ROI, all while making the job site a safer place to work.”
Founded in 2013, HammerTech has grown to serve more than 500 clients globally including large private companies such as Hutchinson Builders in Australia and John Paul Construction in Ireland.
US growth capital firm Arrowroot Capital invested in HammerTech in 2019 and remains a significant investor with board representation. Riverwood will now also be represented on the HammerTech board.
In February, HammerTech appointed Aconex co-founder Rob Phillpot as a strategic adviser.
US-based investment banking firm Lightning Partners advised HammerTech on Riverwood’s investment.
HammerTech is a global competitor to Queensland-founded Safety Culture which was most recently valued at $2.7 billion.
Image: Hutchinson Builders uses HammerTech’s safety software.