Autodesk acquires PlanGrid for $875 million, to digitize and automate construction workflows

Yesterday, Autodesk, a software corporation for the architecture, engineering, construction, and manufacturing, announced that it has acquired the leading provider of construction productivity software, PlanGrid for $875 million net of cash. The transaction is expected to close during Autodesk's fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, which is, ending January 31, 2019.

With this acquisition of the San Francisco based startup, Autodesk will be able to offer more comprehensive, cloud-based construction platform.

PlanGrid software, launched in 2011, gives builders real-time access to project plans, punch lists, project tasks, progress photos, daily field reports, submittals and more. Autodesk’s CEO, Andrew Anagnost, said, “There is a huge opportunity to streamline all aspects of construction through digitization and automation. The acquisition of PlanGrid will accelerate our efforts to improve construction workflows for every stakeholder in the construction process.”

According to TechCrunch, “The company, which is a 2012 graduate of Y Combinator, raised just $69 million, so this appears to be a healthy exit for them.”

In an interview with CEO and co-founder Tracy Young in 2015 at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, she had said, “the industry was ripe for change. The heart of construction is just a lot of construction blueprints information. It’s all tracked on paper right now and they’re constantly, constantly changing”. When Tracy started the idea in 2011, her idea was to move all that paper to the cloud and display it on an iPad.

According to Tracy, “At PlanGrid, we have a relentless focus on empowering construction workers to build as productively as possible. One of the first steps to improving construction productivity is the adoption of digital workflows with centralized data. PlanGrid has excelled at building beautiful, simple field collaboration software, while Autodesk has focused on connecting design to construction. Together, we can drive greater productivity and predictability on the job site.”

Jim Lynch, Construction General Manager at Autodesk, said, "We'll integrate workflows between PlanGrid's software and both Autodesk Revit software and the Autodesk BIM 360 construction management platform, for a seamless exchange of information between all project members."

Autodesk and PlanGrid have developed complementary construction integration ecosystems using which customers can connect other software applications. The acquisition is expected to expand the integration partner ecosystem, giving customers a customizable platform to test and scale new ways of working.

To know more about this news in detail, visit Autodesk’s official press release.