Financial pressures drive construction tech growth as the industry seeks solutions
Cloud-based construction technology software Payapps has found increased adoption of digital technology is unlocking industry payment blocks, despite COVID-19 continuing to disrupt the construction supply chain.
"We're fortunate to be experiencing significant growth to the extent our Payapps parent company recently reported 40% growth over the past three years," says Payapps chief operating officer, Tony Simonsen.
"We also see interesting trends as the sector continues to evolve. For one, more than 40% of our users are female. The next generation of leaders are also coming through, bringing fresh ideas, including a willingness to use digital tools to drive efficiencies."
The company, headquartered in Australia, believes material delivery delays, labour shortages, and increasing costs drive the adoption of digital tools and technologies that deliver greater efficiencies, collaboration, and risk mitigation.
"Productivity efficiencies and cash flow management are increasingly critical with costs likely to rise further this year against a backdrop of supply chain challenges," says Simonsen.
"The industry already has razor-thin profit margins, but technology is increasingly offering opportunities to execute projects more efficiently."
In a recent report, Rider Levett Bucknall supports this expectation citing project costs for 2022 will increase by 2.5% in Darwin, 3% in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Townsville, 4.5% in Perth, 5% in Brisbane and Gold Coast, and 5.6% in Sydney.
Simonsen says Payapps is helping an increasing number of companies to improve back-office efficiencies and productivity by making it easier for them to submit and approve traditionally time-consuming and costly progress claim processes.
Some companies Payapps is enabling in Australia include Alder Construction, GCB Construction, Melchor, Kinetic, Versatile, Evolution Precast, BSA and Maxon. While in New Zealand, it is supporting entities including McKee Fehl and Premier Roofing.
"Payapps is a game-changer to our industry; it streamlines all aspects of subcontractor claims, saving time each month," says Maxcon finance director Joanne Elzain. "Payapps has been the best investment for us to date."
Simonsen says the wider Payapps Company team were thrilled when Zuuse (officially renamed Payapps Company in December 2021) was listed by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) as one of the country's 'must-watch' businesses on 29 November.
"We made it into the list for the first time, securing 45th place on its Fast 100 List for 2021, which was hugely exciting and a fantastic endorsement of our achievements and our solid foundation for continued success," he says.
"To that end, we're also hiring more staff with an 85% rise in total employees this year to support our customers further and moving to a larger head office in Melbourne once COVID-19 restrictions ease. Payapps has big revenue and growth aspirations across the numerous geographies it is located within, including Australia and New Zealand, to build on its 25,000 strong customer base."
As a team of experts and construction specialists, he says their focus is on forging ahead, creating change, and remaining at the forefront of their industry. "We're continually looking for software improvements but also focused on broadening our value proposition over the coming year, which we will share more details on in due course."
IFM Investors, one of the world's leading fund managers, agreed to a significant equity stake in Payapps Company Ltd at the close of 2021, creating a solid springboard for further expanding the global software business.
