Listen to this articleBelow is our recent interview with Denis Branthonne, the Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Novade:
Q: This is the first time we have spoken. Can you provide a brief overview of Novade?
A: Founded in 2014, Novade is headquartered in Singapore and operates globally. Novade offers smart field management software for the building and construction industry. Site processes including quality, safety, progress monitoring, workforce management and maintenance are digitised and automated using mobile devices. The data captured provides insights to streamline operations and drive results with key performance indicators. Leading contractors, real estate developers, owners and operators around the world trust Novade to drive their digital transformation.
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Q: How does Novade differ from other similar companies?
A: Most companies in the sector offer specialised applications such as for safety and quality of time-sheets.The applications do not connect well with each other so operators end up using multiple applications and have to enter multiple times the same data. We provide a platform that covers the full spectrum of activities in the field – one single application with all processes digitised.
We understand the industry, we know that each country, each type of project uses different standards. The Novade platform can easily be configured to match any field process. For most applications, you have to follow a pre-defined approach. With Novade, we can match any process in the field.
Many software systems try to push information from the office to the field. With Novade, it is the opposite, everything starts in the field. We are process and data-driven, we know that digitisation cannot be successful without buy-in from teams in the field. And once users adopt the platform, clients can collect millions of records and run analytics to improve operations.
Q: You’ve recently raised your new funding round; can you tell us something more?
A: We successfully completed a Series B round early 2020 with two prominent investment funds: SIG and Vulcan, in addition to Wavemaker Partners, the lead for our Series A.
We are a very capital efficient organisation so this investment gives the ability to invest and expand operations without any financial risk exposure. We plan to invest the funds to accelerate product development and international expansion across EMEA and APAC.
Q: Can you tell us something about your pricing?
A: We are a SaaS provider. You can subscribe to the platform by project and/or by module. Typically, clients like to get started on one project and one module. Once a few processes are successfully digitised, the subscriptions are typically expanded to other projects or additional modules. For larger companies, we offer long-term enterprise agreements, covering the whole platform and including consulting services, support for standardisation and digital transformation.
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Q: What can we expect from Novade in next 12 months?
A: Novade will accelerate its global expansion and market penetration in Europe, China and Japan, as well as step up engagement with the leading global firms in the industry.
In the long-term, our goal is to impact the industry substantially through digitisation & AI. Ultimately, it will benefit everyone. For example:
Digitisation boosts productivity and helps deliver affordable homes and infrastructure.
Harnessing technology helps make every construction site a safer place and saves lives.
Delivering higher quality projects and well-maintained buildings improves our daily lives.
Adopting prefabrication methods during construction reduces waste and energy consumption.
