3D design software company Autodesk today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bengaluru based Pype, a provider of cloud-based solutions for automating construction project management workflows. The acquisition will empower general contractors, subcontractors and owners to gain even more value from Autodesk Construction Cloud by automating critical construction workflows such as submittals and closeouts to increase productivity and mitigate project risk.
In 2017, Autodesk had announced a strategic investment in Bengalure based contruction software as as service provider Manufacton. In April this year, Autodesk had announced the acquisition of a minority stake in another US and Bengaluru based firm Aurigo Software which offers cloud-based software to plan, build and maintain capital assets and infrastructure projects.
Autodesk has approximately 500 employees in India, and the acquisition of Pype adds another 40 employees from Pype’s Bengaluru base to the count. Since 2017, Autodesk has invested in nine construction technology startups. The company also acquired Assemble, BuildingConnected and PlanGrid; these three acquisitions alone total more than $1.1 billion. Finacial details of teh current acquisition have not been disclosed.
Pype’s suite of software reduces manual entry and human error that can lead to rework, cost overruns and schedule delays on construction projects. Pype’s technology leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to automatically analyze and extract critical construction data such as project plans and specifications to be used throughout the project lifecycle. By automating these traditional manual workflows and converting real-time data into actionable insights, construction teams have the power to increase collaboration and project efficiency. Pype largely caters to clients across US and Canada.
“Autodesk is focused on helping construction teams meet the world’s rapidly expanding building and infrastructure needs, while making construction more predictable, safe and sustainable,” Andrew Anagnost, CEO of Autodesk told Mint. “Similar to Autodesk’s acquisitions of companies like PlanGrid, BuildingConnected and Assemble, the acquisition of Pype is demonstrative of our investment in the digitization and automation of the construction industry to improve overall collaboration, quality, safety and productivity.
Sunil Dorairajan, CEO and co-founder of Pype said, “We’ve launched four widely adopted solutions to-date, each rooted in our ongoing mission to automate manual construction workflows for increased productivity and reduced risk. Now as part of Autodesk, we look forward to expanding these automated capabilities to ensure construction teams efficiently progress through projects, from design to closeout.”
Pype will integrate with Autodesk Construction Cloud for streamlined project management.
With Autodesk’s established design authoring tools, Autodesk Construction Cloud connects headquarters, office and field teams to increase collaboration and productivity. Pype expects the acquisition to also create more job opportunities through this acquisition for their India team. The entire current Pype team across India and North America will join Autodesk.
“While risk is inherent in the construction business, leveraging artificial intelligence to automate tedious yet consequential data and processes significantly reduces project risk associated with human error,” said Karuna Ammireddy, CTO and co-founder of Pype. “We already have APIs in place to integrate with Autodesk and the acquisition will integrate it much further to build additional products.”
