The Value of One Single Truth
Founder Robert Salvador’s genius was to see that blockchain could elevate the industry with an automated back-office function that could keep permanent, immutable records of events, agreements, payments and mark milestones met (or missed).
He calls it ‘the one established truth.’
In complex construction projects that range from $5MM – $50MM, collaborative work takes place in a fragile ecosystem involving 50-100 disparate (and often distrusting) parties at any given time.
Fraud is a $1 trillion problem in the construction industry. By digitizing all paperwork (there are typically more than 750K documents per project!) and facilitating all interactions on the blockchain, those agreements are verifiable and provable.
On the blockchain, they are tracked, monitored, and made immutable, shielded and removed from the control of any one party.
For These Founders, It’s Personal
Rob has worked across many different segments of the construction industry, as general contractor, property developer, subcontractor and construction management company CEO; he has seen virtually every problem in all of its forms.
Lots of people try to sell to the construction vertical without really having the necessary expertise. Because of his background, Rob brings a credibility that others simply don’t have. In addition, he is charismatic and has a passion that goes beyond a typical entrepreneurial or clinical desire to simply “solve a problem and make some money.”
Cofounder April Moss brings a tremendous expertise to the company. She was an executive at Proctor & Gamble for 21 years. After that, she managed supply chain logistics for club stores like Costco and BJ’s Wholesale, and spent several years helping companies
build strong customer sales and marketing teams. However, her passion for this industry starts way before all that.
The third founder is Ivan Franco, an engineer who is a full stack developer with impressive, in-depth experience from the work he has done as a blockchain developer for Coinbase, a major player in cryptocurrency.
Blockchain: Accountability, Accuracy, and Streamlined Paperwork Processing
Risk Mitigation, Supply Chain Management and More Reliable Payment Processing
- Procurement: DigiProcure allows all crews to collaborate on all material purchases, order management and delivery to the jobsite.
- Project Visibility: The transparency of all stakeholders’ transactions across one connected, DigiVerifyplatform eliminates risk and increases productivity because every transaction is searchable, verifiable and can be seen and acted on by all stakeholders.
- Payment: The DigiPay system streamlines payments by automating the collection of critical lien waiver documents so everyone can be paid up to 4X faster than other solutions.
Early Support & Powerful Partnerships
Many of the biggest construction companies understood early on what DigiBuild was trying to do, which has built momentum for the company. They have witnessed a groundswell of support and has benefitted from several different backers early on, both in terms of financial support as well as mentorship:
- They were finalists in legendary investor Tim Draper’s Meet the Drapers (note: Tim was one of the first investors in my company, Vungle, as well).
- VCC is one of the largest construction companies in North America and is rolling out their products on a large scale
- DigiBuild raised a $2M seed from Tim Draper, Bluefield Capital, Build Technologies, and Republic
- Backed by Y Combinator and currently in their S21 batch