Findable, Oslo-born startup, has raised €2M seed in a round led by Danish early-stage VC firm KOMPAS. Construct Venture and Malling & Co Venture participated the seed funding round. Findable’s solution provides a practical alternative to physical storage methods in building documentation and storage process. It also comes with financial benefits to users as it ensures that the documents needed during the inspection and certification period are easily accessible. This solution reaches the users through an AI-supported platform. With the help of the platform that requires less workforce for better quality documentation, the startup guarantees not only easy access to data but also the ability to categorize them. The funding will be used for the growth of the product and international expansion in the future.
Findable secures €2 million seed round for its first-to-market building documentation automation platform
AI-powered cloud-based service makes building documentation digital, organised and searchable
Findable, the Oslo-based startup that automates building documentation using Artificial Intelligence (AI), has raised a €2 million seed round led by KOMPAS, with participation by Construct Venture and Malling & Co Venture. The Seed funding will allow Findable to scale its product and grow its customer base as it plans for international expansion across the built environment.
Building documentation is seen as the ‘instruction manual’ of a building. The huge volumes of information stored in these documents relate to anything from the construction history and contractor details to maintenance information on HVAC units, pipes, electricals and fire safety. Storing this documentation safely and organising it in an easily accessible way is necessary to ensure routine facility management, inspection and certification processes. Poorly organised documentation results in additional costs for building owners by as much as €2 per square metre every year, while the physical storage of documents can frequently result in loss or damage.
Findable digitises building documentation, using AI to automatically categorise documents and allows users to locate specific information via a search function. The software is able to analyse headlines, pictures and drawings, and quickly conclude what the document shows and how it should be organised. With Findable, documents are more secure, complete and can be mined for information. This reduces the time consuming and manual process of managing complex documents, enabling construction companies and facility managers to streamline the process of inspections and certifications.
The need for improved building documentation is only going to grow in the coming years. In the UK for example this is starting to take shape through the ongoing Grenfell Tower Inquiry which has recommended new laws in their Phase 1 Report to make building documentation more accessible. Their recommendations include requiring owners and managers of high-rise residential buildings to provide fire and rescue services with information about external wall materials and building plans – a capability many building owners are still falling short on. Findable is offering those in charge of managing building documentation a way to get ahead of new regulations and be more resource efficient.
Fredrik Halmøy Wisløff, CEO at Findable says: “Building documentation, its organisation and storage, is quite frankly a tedious task. Even today it’s still a largely manual process involving stacks of paper and piles of ring binders. Similar to the software that automatically sorts photo albums using face recognition, our technology quickly identifies the key data and makes it easier for relevant parties to access the information that matters. Digitising and automating building documentation is the only way to streamline this laborious but critical aspect of building management.”
Sebastian Peck, Partner at KOMPAS says: “The facilities management sector in Europe is a massive market undergoing its own digital transformation. The construction industry, property developers and facility managers all require digital solutions to meet complex regulatory and sustainability requirements.
Findable’s solution provides easy access to the right building documentation, supporting workflow automation and thereby removing a major bottleneck. We are really excited to back the terrific team at Findable.”
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Originally published on ArcticStartup : Original article