Prolo, an AI-powered procurement platform designed to support SME construction firms source materials, equipment and hire at the best market rates, has secured £4.2m in seed funding. Procurement within the construction industry remains analogue and is ripe for disruption. Prolo says smaller contractors bear the brunt of industry inefficiencies, losing
Kirstie Pickering
Prolo, an AI-powered procurement platform designed to support SME construction firms source materials, equipment and hire at the best market rates, has secured £4.2m in seed funding.
Procurement within the construction industry remains analogue and is ripe for disruption. Prolo says smaller contractors bear the brunt of industry inefficiencies, losing hours ringing around builders’ merchants for quotes and absorbing the costs of uncompetitive pricing.
The Chartered Institute of Building says that supply chain disruptions and manual workflows contribute to roughly 40% of projects suffering delays averaging five months.
Prolo says it eliminates this friction by acting as an outsourced, AI-powered procurement team. Site managers can use WhatsApp, email or phone call to access Prolo’s team of AI and human experts, which scans a nationwide network of over 185 suppliers to offer them trade rates on orders like bulk materials and specialist plant hire that are usually reserved for tier-1 firms.
The startup also offers flexible credit options for up to 90 days, allowing customers to take on larger projects.
The seed funding will fuel the Prolo’s focus on go-to-market sales and marketing efforts, and accelerate new tech and product rollouts to boost support for its SME contractor customers.
The oversubscribed round was led by Triple Point Ventures and included participation from Anamcara Capital, Concrete VC, Foundation Ventures, Haatch, Koro Capital, Love Ventures, Portfolio Ventures and the a16z Scout Fund.
“For decades, SME contractors have been penalised by a lack of price transparency and inefficient ordering, often paying a premium simply because they lack the time and purchasing power of the tier-1 giants,” says James Morris-Manuel, founder and CEO of Prolo.
“We learned how to build robust tech that solves very real, very painful operational bottlenecks for the built environment. With Prolo, we are entirely shifting the dynamic of construction supply chains. The demand we are seeing right out of the gate is phenomenal.”
