A Minneapolis company that created software designed to help construction companies save money and boost efficiency by monitoring projects from afar is quickly gaining some big-name users of its product.
Founded in 2016, SiteKick's software captures images from smart cameras and environmental readings from sensors at construction sites. The information is uploaded into a cloud infrastructure, where machine learning looks for objects of interest in the images, such as people. The virtual-presence system then produces real-time and historical data on construction progress, safety and productivity at the sites.
Monitoring and recording that data are typically performed manually. With real-time data at their disposal, superintendents, foremen and project managers can "extend their resources to work on more projects," CEO Tom Wolfe said.
SiteKick, which emerged from stealth mode a little over a year ago, has about 20 clients, ranging from local general contractors to multibillion-dollar Minneapolis commercial real estate company Ryan Cos., said Wolfe, who along with most of his team has a background in enterprise software.
On average, the users of SiteKick save 53% in monitoring and site costs, and realize a 15% increase in field productivity, he said.
Wolfe and his team are planning to scale the business after closing on $2.3 million in a seed round of funding from private investors. The capital will be applied to sales and marketing, talent acquisition, streamlining, customer experience and operations, and general growth of the company, Wolfe said.
In March, Ryan Cos. announced it had entered into a "programmatic relationship" with SiteKick, saying the software will be used for the company's senior-living projects across the country.
Ryan has more than 20 senior-living projects starting in the next 24 months that will use SiteKick.
