• ProcurePro received Entrepreneurs’ Programme Accelerating Commercialisation support of $278,751 to help bring to market a web-based tool to manage complex trade procurement and contract execution tasks. This laborious and time-consuming task costs large construction companies millions of dollars each year.With such unprecedented cost pressures on construction and related industries, an opportunity to achieve significant savings is game-changing.
• i4 Connect Facilitator Chris Burnett helped ProcurePro pivot, reassess their business model and optimise their funding to efficiently achieve a fully commercialised product. He also helped ProcurePro to create opportunities to quickly go to market with an industry-leading solution, and become a profitable investment opportunity.
For professionals in Australia’s construction industry, the complexities of trade procurement and
contract execution loom large over every new project. These processes typically absorb vast amounts of paperwork and attention. Spreadsheets, emails and documents are exchanged back and forth, with up to 10 or 15 different processes running consecutively with multiple subcontractors and suppliers.
Alastair Blenkin, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ProcurePro, says the time and resources
demanded by contract and procurement operations can cost commercial construction companies
millions of dollars per year in inefficient processes and are prone to human error.
Additionally, the industry is facing significant challenges caused by labour shortages and material supply and cost issues driving prices up.” The subcontractor procurement process takes approximately 35 hours per contract, 40 subcontracts per project and for a builder running 25projects per year, there is35,000 hours’ worth of procurement and a couple of million dollars in resources wasted per year on contract management,” he says.
A great idea at a perfect time
After working for one of Australia’s leading law practices for six years and specialising in commercial
real estate, Blenkin became aware of the large scale enterprise contracting problems faced by
commercial landlords. Following initially commercialising their technology for commercial real
estate, Blenkin pivoted focus to the adjacent construction industry.
The result, ProcurePro, consolidates procurement into a single web-based platform that offers real-
time progress tracking and consistency in procurement, freeing up staff from time-consuming
administrative procedures, and improving risk identification and overall profitability. The result is
freeing up contract administrators, construction project managers and procurement professionals to
focus on achieving better outcomes per project.
Blenkin says the platform makes the subcontractor procurement process “completely transparent,
better quality and 50% faster,” setting a project up for success from the very first step.
Taking it to the next level with i4 Connect
With the software development for ProcurePro having been largely self and family funded, they
turned to the Entrepreneurs’ Programme Accelerating Commercialisation service for help with
bringing their innovation to life.
An Entrepreneurs’ Programme Accelerating Commercialisation grant of $278,751 paired with the
support of experienced i4Connect Facilitator, Chris Burnett, empowered ProcurePro to make the
significant leap into preparing for commercial availability as well as creating jobs.
Additionally, working with their i4Connect Facilitator helped them reassess their business model
and optimise their funding so that the company can now begin to generate business growth. Blenkin
says the support from the Entrepreneurs’ Programme Accelerating Commercialisation service, plus
working with Chris from i4 Connect, proved pivotal to the future of the business.
“One potentially problematic aspect of bringing a pilot product to market is creating awareness,” Blenkin explains. “Assistance from i4 Connect’s experienced facilitators created opportunities for ProcurePro not only to emerge onto the market, but to quickly establish itself as an industry-leading solution and a profitable investment opportunity with tangible and proven success.”
Primed for an exciting future
Excited by the business’s rapid growth, Blenkin says people are often surprised to learn the concept
is only two years old, given the success and sophistication of the ProcurePro platform. “We’ve gone
from 5 to 20staff in the last 12 months,” he says. “We expect to grow from 20to 50 in the next
18months and are commencing our expansion into the UK market.”
The company’s rapid growth presents an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the
Australian economy. ProcurePro is creating much-needed job opportunities, presenting industry
partners with improved processes, and setting construction projects up for success from the ground
up. Before long it will likely also be generating valuable export income for the Australian
economy.
