ConstructSecure Announces $96M Growth Equity Investment to Bring Partner Elevation to Capital Projects

Funding led by Summit Partners supports the company's continued growth and commitment to help builders and owners elevate the capabilities of their partners, amidst a historically challenging labor market

BURLINGTON, MA – ConstructSecure, the Partner Elevation Platform for capital projects and operations, today announced a $96 million growth investment led by Summit Partners. The investment will help enable further product development and support ConstructSecure’s expanded mission to help clients deliver successful capital projects by elevating the capabilities of their partners and mitigating risk across capital project lifecycles.

Related: ConstructSecure changes name to Highwire, launches Partner Elevation Pledge to build safer and more enduring businesses

The Rise of Partner Elevation

Construction firms and facility owners have traditionally attempted to minimize and mitigate risks related to safety, financial, quality and sustainability factors of third-party contractors with upfront screening. A growing volume of increasingly complex construction projects and an acute skilled labor scarcity — 55% of respondents in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s most recent Commercial Construction Survey say finding skilled workers is “highly difficult” — has driven many firms to take on riskier partners. Recognizing that “prequalification" alone can’t identify new risks as they arise, ConstructSecure is pioneering a new approach to managing capital projects.

“The Partner Elevation movement represents a fundamental shift across our industry — from an over-reliance on up-front partner screening to a more collaborative, dynamic approach to risk mitigation across the project lifecycle,” said Austin Merritt, ConstructSecure CEO. “We have evolved and expanded our solutions from our roots as an internal risk management tool at Harvard University to a fully-integrated Partner Elevation Platform used by some of the world’s most admired organizations, including Skanska, Merck, Bond Brothers and many others.”

Read more about Partner Elevation from ConstructSecure CEO Austin Merritt >>

ConstructSecure is designed to deliver the capabilities builders and owners need to engage the highest-potential partners and chart a path to success, collaborate with partners on the job to dynamically mitigate new and evolving risks, and review project and partner performance together to continuously learn and improve.

"The industry needs more than just standard contractor assessment tools," said Robin Van Fossen, Director of Subcontractor and DBE Outreach at Rosendin. "ConstructSecure is helping us move past old-school pre-qualification methods and proactively work with our contracting partners throughout the project lifecycle to advance our mutual safety, finance, diversity, quality, or sustainability goals."

Accelerating the Partner Elevation Movement

The ConstructSecure platform was designed in collaboration with construction and operations clients worldwide and, as a result, is making an impact both within construction and beyond. Contracting partners around the world are increasingly turning to ConstructSecure to support both the planning and operational phases of a capital project. Today, the company’s Partner Elevation platform is used to power over $35 billion of combined assets and projects with contracting partners in 62 countries around the globe.

“Capital projects are larger, more complex and being built faster than ever before, and it’s crucial for enterprises to mitigate risk and promote safety compliance at every stage,” said Greg Goldfarb, Managing Director at Summit Partners. “We believe ConstructSecure is leading an important movement to help a broad range of companies make the most of every partner relationship, elevating the safety, financial viability and sustainability of capital projects in the process.”

Under the leadership of CEO Austin Merritt, who joined the company early last year, ConstructSecure is leading the Partner Elevation movement. The company has more than doubled its headcount over the course of the last twelve months and expanded its footprint across the U.S. In 2021, ConstructSecure opened a new headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, and the team plans to open a second office in Boise, Idaho in 2022.

“Some of the world’s most recognized builders and owners are embracing this new approach to minimizing adverse events and getting more work done on schedule and on budget,” said Austin Merritt. “As we look to the future, we’ll continue to accelerate the expansion of our Partner Elevation Platform with a goal of delivering a world-class experience to our global customer base.”

About ConstructSecure
ConstructSecure is the leader of the Partner Elevation movement for builders and owners of capital projects. The world’s most admired organizations — including Skanska, Merck, and Bond Brothers — use ConstructSecure to ensure their contracting partners deliver great work, on budget and on schedule, by collaborating with them to dynamically mitigate safety, financial, quality and sustainability risks throughout every project lifecycle. Originally started as an internal risk assessment system at Harvard University, ConstructSecure is now an independent company championing the Partner Elevation movement. ConstructSecure is backed by global growth equity investor Summit Partners. The company is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, with employees across the United States. For more information visit www.ConstructSecure.com.

About Summit Partners
Founded in 1984, Summit Partners is a global alternative investment firm that is currently managing more than $42 billion in capital dedicated to growth equity, fixed income and public equity opportunities. Summit invests across growth sectors of the economy and has invested in more than 550 companies in technology, healthcare and other growth industries. Summit maintains offices in North America and Europe and invests in companies around the world. For more information, please visit www.summitpartners.com or follow on LinkedIn.

In the United States of America, Summit Partners operates as an SEC-registered investment advisor. In the United Kingdom, this document is issued by Summit Partners LLP, a firm authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Summit Partners LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC388179 and its registered office is at 11-12 Hanover Square, London, W1S 1JJ, UK. This document is intended solely to provide information regarding Summit Partners' potential financing capabilities for prospective portfolio companies.