Condoit announced it has closed a seed round led by The Westly Group with participation from Fontinalis Partners, Navitas Capital, C2 Ventures, Studio Management and a strategic investment by leading global wire and cable manufacturer, Southwire.
BIRMINGHAM, AL, April 17, 2024 (Newswire.com) – Condoit, the leading platform for digitizing the electrical industry, today announced it has closed a $4.25 million seed round. The funds will be used to accelerate product development, expand the national sales team, enhance customer support and success, and meet growing market demand.
With Condoit, electric companies and their network of property owners, facility managers, and subcontracting companies can share valuable data and collaborate on projects in real-time using a “SaaS for electricians” solution.
The company closed a $4.25 million oversubscribed round led by The Westly Group (Tesla, Procore) with participation from Fontinalis Partners (Lyft, Postmites), Navitas Capital (PlanGrid, Matterport), C2 Ventures, Studio Management, and Overline with a strategic investment. By the world’s leading wire and cable manufacturer, Southwire.
About Conduit
Condoit is an “electric first” platform that enables electrical companies of any size the ability to conduct electrical infrastructure assessments, design and analysis remotely and collaboratively throughout the bid or project phases.
The Condoit platform aims to streamline operations for the electrical contractor in the field, saving time and reducing labor costs. Electricians can use the Condoit mobile app in the field on an iOS or Android device to take photos, conduct site tours, and record data remotely.
It creates standardization of data collection across contractor and subcontractor networks and modernizes site feasibility assessments along with access to drawings, inspections, reporting and analysis of commercial electrical systems – replacing legacy software and manual processes that are still limited to pen and paper despite the rise of cloud-based solutions. On the construction and trade industries.
Condoit, which launched from the TechStars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator in 2020, was founded by former commercial electrician Ian Hope, with the goal of digitally transforming the paper-based processes that plagued the electrical industry and revolutionizing the way electricians work today.
Based in Birmingham, Alabama, Hope has experience in all aspects of the electrical industry – from oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico to hospital systems and sprawling data centers. He has spent years on the front lines collecting data and analyzing large, complex electrical systems by hand and using legacy tools and software.
“I have spent years in this field bending pipes and pulling wires. I was raised by an electrical power system design engineer. I have known this industry my whole life and love it with all my heart. I believe it is time to build modern technology for this essential sector,” Hope said. .
“The electrical industry we operate here at Condoit is one that empowers people in the field to do their best work, with all the information they need literally at their fingertips.”
Demand in the early stage
Since its launch, Condoit has seen an amazing response from the market. In 2023, they signed a contract with one of the largest national commercial electric companies, Miller Electric. Miller Electric’s specialty electric vehicle division, Miller EV Solutions, won several contracts with customers across the United States to install commercial electric vehicle chargers last year.
Condoit worked with Miller Electric to standardize data collection and streamline the process with cloud-connected solutions in the field, mobilizing the entire workforce and rapidly scaling the Miller EV Solutions division.
“Together with the Condoit team, Miller Electric is poised to significantly expand our EV Solutions team’s facilities across North America,” said Kerry Stewart, chief strategy officer at Miller Electric.
“Very few software companies can truly understand the electrical industry and our specific needs. We are thrilled to be an early partner with such a great product and team. I can’t wait to see what we achieve this year and in the years to come.”
In January 2024, the Joint Office of Energy and Transport announced $46.5 million to improve electric vehicle charging infrastructure and reduce the country’s carbon emissions.
Accessibility to charging outlets is a major driver of clean energy adoption. According to a study by McKinsey & Company, “…there were about 2.6 million ports available in 2022; But with the number of electric vehicles increasing every year, the country will need approximately 9.5 million ports by 2025 and 28.0 million by 2030.
Demand for electricians will grow by 6% through 2032, which is faster than the average for all occupations; Between application and retirement, there will be about 73,500 job openings in this field each year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Conduit investors
Condoit’s latest lead round is The Westly Group, whose portfolio includes some of the biggest names in the mobility and “built” industries. The Westly Group was an early investor in Tesla, Procore, Sentinel One, and Luminar, all of which went public.
“The widespread electrification of transportation, manufacturing and the built environment is a requirement for our climate and global economy,” said Jason Calera, partner at The Westley Group.
“Conduit and Ian recognize that progress starts on the front lines in the hands of electricians doing the hard work every day. We are excited to lead Conduit’s seed round and support them on their journey to empower this community and transform the commercial electricity market.”
Fontinalis Partners, whose portfolio includes Lyft, also participated in the round. Gabe Cunningham, a partner at the firm, commented on their recent investment.
“For ‘Electrification of Everything,’ electricians will be the ones to make it happen,” Cunningham said. “We are excited that Conduit is providing cutting-edge software solutions for electricians during this crucial time.”
Other investors include Overline, Studio Management and Navitas Capital, who are no strangers to the industry as early-stage backers of cloud solutions for construction technology, including Matterport (IPO exit, 2021) and PlanGrid (acquired by Autodesk last year).
Global wire and cable manufacturer Southwire has also joined as a strategic investor in line with its expansion into the electric vehicle industry.
“Southwire is committed to being an industry leader in job site efficiency and safety, and we are excited to support Condoit in its efforts to simplify and automate routine jobsite tasks,” said Norman Adkins, Southwire’s chief operating officer.
Key executive team appointments
At the time of this announcement, Condoit is also pleased to add two key hires to its leadership team with decades of experience in early-stage product and growth for B2B SaaS companies.
Joining as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is Peyton Sherwood. Sherwood was Director of Engineering at Venmo (acquired by Braintree in 2012) and Chief Product Officer and Chief Strategy Officer of BlueNote by Tulco (acquired by Acrisure in 2020), as well as co-founder and CTO at Bond Street.
Also joining as CMO is Amber Fernbacher, founding marketer of construction technology unicorn EquipmentShare, who spent the past three years in SMB fintech at Tillful by Flowcast (acquired in 2023) and former CMO at the insurance company Owned by Tokio Marine.
Hope sees a great opportunity to apply what financial technology has done to the field of traditional banking and financial services in order to electrify the future.
“In many ways, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I have electrical and electrical engineers on staff to drive sector-specific innovation, but other industries have had great success with digital transformation. I carry the hammer of progress from fintech to building tech,” Hope said. “So we can really accelerate this transformation and see some of the angles that I know are coming.”
Source: Conduit
