PlanGrid allows construction workers to access PDFs on iPads and iPhones. (Image courtesy of PlanGrid.)
Autodesk announced that it has purchased PlanGrid, the San Francisco startup that made the iPad the preferred method of viewing construction drawings, for $875 million.
PlanGrid started in 2011 with a simple mission: to make construction paperless. PlanGrid’s CEO, Tracy Young, had worked as a construction engineer and had to wheel a cart filled with blueprints from room to room in order to check construction documents against on-site progress.
“One of the foundational problems of construction is that there’s this massive disconnect between the people who design buildings and structures and the people who build them, even though design is the front end of every construction project in the world,” said Young.
PlanGrid accepts PDFs, photos and other information (punch lists, RFIs, submittals, etc.) so that contractors can view them on their iPads. The setup enables construction professionals to carry their paperwork around with them easily and ensures that everyone on a worksite has access to the same updated files. Back in 2011, the idea of digitizing construction paperwork and putting it on the cloud was considered “far out.”
PlanGrid has been used by 12,000 customers on over a million construction projects worldwide, according to the company.
Jim Lynch, vice president, BIM Product Line Group at Autodesk, and Tracy Young, CEO and cofounder of PlanGrid….