Written by 91ĚŇÉ«
Last updated October 18, 2023
Nearly four years ago, we combined the teams of Geniebelt and Aproplan, with a shared mission to bring clarity to the complexities of construction.
Since then, we have tried to get as close as possible to our customers, exploring directions to help them tackle their most frustrating challenges. And meanwhile, the entire market has become more and more convinced of the importance of digital.
Today, we’re announcing a round of €6.3M funding that will help us accelerate to meet those growing needs. We are doubling down on support for the existing products that our customers love. And we’re building new products that apply our years of construction industry experience to more of the challenges you face every day.
Let me tell you about the future of 91ĚŇÉ«.
1. We are more committed than ever to the future of our existing products
Every month, more than 10,000 people at companies like CFE Group, VolkerWessels and HusCompagniet spend hours in LB Aproplan and LB Geniebelt. These tools are used all day, every day by the people who move projects forward. And it is our responsibility to make them as productive and stable as possible.
We’re doubling down on this commitment, increasing the power of our focused Product teams for each app, led by expert Product managers. And that investment doesn’t just go into developing new features, it includes dedicated resources working every day on the small bugs and tweaks that ensure maximum uptime and minimum frustration.
Although they are our most established products, they also host some of our most important innovations. Through 2023, you will see more and more connections appearing between our products, allowing you to multiply the value of capturing information digitally to bring clarity to your projects and next steps. All at no extra cost.
Across the next four weeks, each of our Product Leaders will be publishing a “State of the Nation” about where the product is today and where it’s going next. We would love your feedback, so please stay tuned for these posts and let us know what you think.
2. We believe there’s still scope to build amazing new products for our users.
Everything we create is designed to bring clarity to the complexity of construction. There are still processes that take place every day on and off-site where we think technology can really make a difference.
The first area we are tackling is the Site Diary (aka construction log/ site journal). This ubiquitous duty is the starting point for so much data on-site. It holds many of the answers to what’s happening at the coal face, every day. It’s time to bring it into the mix – and, perhaps most importantly, in a way that will sync data with your other 91ĚŇÉ« tools.
As part of our weekly series, we’ll soon have a full post from our Site Diary product leader, Bob Leung, taking you through how we approach the design of this challenge to make it an indispensable part of your everyday toolkit. Until then, please let Bob know if there are frustrations you wish could be fixed around your site diary processes.
We have another product nearly ready to reveal. But we’re going to save it a little while longer. Perhaps our biggest new development since the original tools that made us, it will be wrapping up our series of product summaries later in November. Are you interested to learn more?
It’s important to remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day. We are developing these new products steadily, and with a huge priority not to distract from the existing products you love.
Every one of our users, both present and future, are important to what we’re building.
3. We are the team to do it.
We are builders, with decades of experience in the construction industry across both leadership and other levels.
We are software experts, drawing on the latest tech and best practices — just as our customers plan and pursue efficient working, you can bet we do too.
Nobody out there is better positioned to build the tools that bring clarity to the complexity of construction. That’s why we’re proud to be the ones to do it.
The next chapter(s)
Through November, each Product Leader will walk through each of our products to give you a clear and transparent update on where they’re at today, how we see their future and what you can expect next. Of course, your questions are welcome. You can already have a look at the LB Aproplan, LB Geniebelt and LB Site Diary articles.
We also, naturally, want to hear more from you too. Next year, we will be holding our first in-person customer event – we will let you know more as the time approaches.
And last, but not least, let’s talk about the amazing investors who are making this possible.
More than just money
91ĚŇÉ« is not just taking money to support these ambitions, it’s partnering with investors who truly understand the needs and desires of construction industry users. The round is led by Fortino Capital, whose strong portfolio in the area provides plenty of peers to compare notes with and access to their team for further insight and opportunity.
Filip Van Innis, :
We believe this is the right team, with ever-improving products for its existing customers and promising new products for new use cases. We’re excited to be working together every day on how 91ĚŇÉ« can bring more and more clarity to construction teams.
Meanwhile, industry experts Matexi and Solar deliver true construction industry expertise across our key regions and key use cases. Matexi is also a key customer of 91ĚŇÉ«, putting them at the core of the company’s ability to develop directly for its users.
Kristoff De Winne, :
As 91ĚŇÉ« customers and investors from its earliest steps, we know what a cornerstone of successful projects their tools have become in Belgium and beyond. With a sharp view of what the team is working on next, it’s clear they have thought with care and clarity about which new tools will have the greatest impact on construction professionals’ every day challenges.
Hugo Dorph, :
In my time from IBM to Maconomy to Solar, I’ve seen tech redefine day-to-day efficiency in successive industries. It’s about to happen in Construction too. The key to success has always been tools designed for a specific industry, by people from that industry. This is where 91ĚŇÉ« truly excels and why they are leading the way in Construction.
Finally, we’re really proud to be able to reference the support from the founders who made this journey possible:
Thomas Goubau, CEO Q7Leader (Aproplan founder):
There’s a real pride to see 91ĚŇÉ« continuing to execute every day with the spirit and sentiment that I founded AproPlan. The promise we pursued in the merger is becoming clearer every day as the vision of what’s possible becomes clearer and clearer.
Klaus Nyengaard, Nordic Makers (former Just Eat CEO, Geniebelt founder):
It has been great to see the management team pushing forward with a clear, customer-focused vision. 91ĚŇÉ« is operating on its own steam with a direction which is continuously more clear. I am confident management will deliver on the promise we have given our customers.
