Heaptalk, Jakarta — A construction startup based in Indonesia, Gravel, announced its latest investment completion at US$14 million, around Rp216 billion. This capital injection will help the startup broaden its presence in global construction technology.
Multiple leading investors involved in this funding round, including New Enterprise Associates (NEA); Co-Founder of Marvell Technology, Weili Dai; Sinar Mas Digital Venture (SMDV), East Ventures; Executive Chairman at Cadence Design System and Chairman Walden International, Lip-Bu Tan.
The company perceived that the construction industry in Indonesia continues to experience steady improvement. In boosting technological progress in the construction sector, Gravel optimizes the Personalized Job Feed to simplify matching builders with project requisites. This technology ensures that customers gain high-quality construction workers for only one and a half minutes, compared to the conventional process, which takes 5 – 14 days on average.
“Gravel is our first investment portfolio in Southeast Asia. We see the potential in utilizing technology to improve the Indonesian industry. We are confident that the strength of the Gravel team will impact Indonesia and the global construction industry. We hope our support can encourage future growth and expansion of this company’s business.” The Chairman and Head of Asia at NEA Partner, Carmen Chang, stated.
Existed as a digital construction platform since 2019, Gravel connects its customers with experienced builders through its application. With its innovation service, Gravel achieved significant growth up to forty-five-fold in 2020 – 2022. On the other hand, this construction company has partnered with 1,7 million people in the builder’s community and related parties, including architects, contractors, and material suppliers.
With over 6,000 construction projects spread over 20 of Indonesia’s provinces, Gravel has completed several giant projects, spanning LRT, Jakarta International Stadium, Pelni Hospital, Keong Mas IMAX theater, and diverse residential development and renovation projects for society in the country.
The Co-founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Georgi Ferdwindra, admitted that Gravel’s strength of leadership and innovation also contribute to the company holistically expanding its services’ scope. Customers can also interact directly with Gravel’s architect or design studio partners to create building concepts, appoint licensed contractors according to their type of construction and budget, and obtain quality building materials and construction tools.
Gravel’s next endeavor to boost its outgrowth
Currently, Gravel company is undergoing a discussion process with the well-known leading corporations in the construction sector, including Sinarmas Land. This strategic cooperation will cover development in residential areas, commercial, hotels, convention centers, and industrial landscapes.
The company also expands its services by providing integrated construction services by launching transformative features in its application, such as:
- Gravel Harian feature, assisting users to discover the daily construction workers
- Gravel Borongan feature for customers to deal with the projects with their budget
- Gravel Maintenance tool for residential improvement
- Gravel Material to help users in shopping for the needed building material
On the other hand, Gravel will release a predictive model designed to monitor project progress efficiently. According to Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer Fredy Yanto, this technology is supported by Artificial Intelligence (AI) to increase accuracy and efficiency.
“Gravel will be a key collaborator in supporting our growth as it applies modern and sustainable construction practices that can respond to our business. This collaboration is in line with Sinarmas values, which are expected to be a catalyst for our progress in various sectors.” The Principal of SMDV, Edward Judokusumo, said.
