We’re excited to be co-leading a $2.4M pre-seed round in Protiv alongside Lightbank with participation from Parameter Ventures and Early Light Ventures.
Lagging productivity growth remains one of the biggest challenges in construction. Several studies have shown that construction labor productivity has been largely stagnant over the past few decades relative to spending. 92% of contractors report difficulties in finding skilled construction workers as well, which further exacerbates the struggles that companies face with labor costs and project efficiency. These challenges and data points make clear the need for an innovative solution for labor optimization and worker productivity.
Protiv is an incentive management platform tailor-built for hourly workers in the construction industry. They use real-time data to create a bridge between worker outputs and project budgets, allowing project owners to offer a self-funded bonus mechanism (“ProPay”) for their workers that complete jobs ahead of schedule. Unlike traditional time-tracking and performance metrics systems, ProPay enables workers to set specific hourly goals and directly incentivizes them to exceed those targets. The platform also integrates with existing tools that project managers leverage for budgeting and time tracking, making it seamless to implement and significantly reducing any administrative overhead.
Behind the company are David Franco and Michael Fortinberry, seasoned construction veterans with over 40 years of combined experience and deep asymmetrical insights into project budgeting, worker compensation models, and the industry’s pain points. The inspiration for Protiv came from their firsthand struggles with efficiently incentivizing their workers and the platform they've built has been a game-changer for early adopters, who have seen meaningful increases in worker wages while simultaneously reducing overall labor costs by implementing the platform into their project workflows.
Check out their website and LinkedIn to learn more about the product and see how to get involved. We’re thrilled to partner with Protiv and excited for the journey ahead as they redefine productivity standards in construction.