Autodesk continues its headlong dive into construction software and the cloud with its acquisition of ProEst, the San Diego-based software company that creates construction estimating software. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but an interview recorded earlier with Mobile Workforce hints that ProEst CEO Jeff Gerardi may have opened negotiations with $20 million.
“Our goal has always been to reimagine the construction estimating process and offer the most advanced functionality possible,” said Gerardi in the Autodesk announcement. “We have enabled teams to move away from paper documents and spreadsheets and, thanks to our cloud-based platform, break down on-premise software silos with seamless integration. Autodesk’s vision of connecting construction from end to end is one we fully believe in, and we’re excited to join an outstanding preconstruction offering to deliver on that vision.”
Autodesk has been pouring money into the AEC sector, including investing in Aurigo Software’s for its capital planning tools and Bridgit for its workforce allocation and resource planning software. The company also acquired Assemble, BuildingConnected, PlanGrid and Pype, spending over $1.1 billion.
Autodesk, like Dassault Systèmes, recognizes the building and construction industry as a laggard in technology implementation—and the market potential in digitalizing it. Compared to the Big CAD’s other major interest (product design in manufacturing firms), AEC and infrastructure represent a colossal opportunity. Think of the U.S. trillion-dollar infrastructure bill that Congress passed earlier this year.
Autodesk plans to add ProEst, either in part or in whole, to its Construction Cloud portfolio. Whether ProEst will duplicate or replace similar functions in the Construction Cloud portfolio is not yet clear. With Autodesk Takeoff, the company already had the ability to do takeoffs and with BuildingConnected, it already “centralized and streamlined the bidding process,” both the reasons for ProEst’s existence.
According to Gerardi, the main competition to ProEst is Microsoft Excel. However, other cloud-based estimating software as a service (SaaS) products do exist. Construction Coverage lists both Stack and Clear as competition to ProEst, giving ProEst the “best overall” rating and leaving Clear Estimate as “best for small contractors” and Stack as “best for large enterprises.”
How Much Will It Cost?
ProEst does not publish what it charges for using ProEst software and Autodesk has not discussed expected charges yet. Building estimate software is expected to cost between $30 and $250 per user per month, according to Construction Coverage.
About ProEst
ProEst is headed by Jeff Gerardi, who “grew up in construction.” His first estimate came as a 17-year-old assistant who blurted out “five grand” when asked how much to bid for a wallpapering job. Gerardi went on to get an education in programming (bachelor’s in computer science from the State University of New York at Oswego). He started with ProEst as a salesperson and then, not long after in 1992, bought the company from its founder who looking to retire, according to the Mobile Workforce interview. Several Gerardis have joined ProEst since. Unlike many recent tech acquisitions in this space, ProEst is private and a real business—not a VC-funded tech startup looking for its first dollar of revenue. It claims to have 8,000 customers, over a thousand of which are with the city of New York. Founded in 1976, ProEst first developed a desktop solution. In 2015, and under Gerardi’s leadership, it shifted to a cloud solution. Posting a 30 percent increase in revenue over the previous year, it made Inc Magazine’s list of 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies. Company headquarters is located in the northwest corner of San Diego, Calif.