CLOUD technology company SimPro Software has raised AU$40m to fund expansion into the US and UK. SimPro creates job management software for service providers in the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and security industries, recently winning a contract to support TelstraSNP.
Brisbane-based SimPro raised the $A40 million from New York-based growth equity firm Level Equity – it’s the first time the company has accepted external investment since its founding in 2002.
Co-founder Stephen Bradshaw, who is an electrical contractor by trade, said he founded the company to solve his own problem of managing a growing team of contractors. He joined co-founder Vaughan McKillop, a software engineer, to help develop the solution, starting with job lists and scheduling tools for allocating time and technicians.
"We only had 3 or 4 – any bigger than that and you started to lose control," he said. "I realised that what electrical and other trade businesses really needed was systemisation and automation. We needed software to help us keep visibility and manageability, and many, many other trade businesses were in the same position."
SimPro will open US headquarters in Broomfield, Colorado and plans to launch in up to 3 more states the US over the next 12 months.
The company, which currently employs about 170 staff, is looking to hire an additional 100 people over the next 3 years. SimPro had more than 2500 clients and 80,000 users worldwide.♦
