At the Procore Construction Summit in London, Procore announced two acquisitions to further strengthen its Building Information modelling (BIM) capabilities. Procore has acquired Novorender and FlyPaper.
Once fully integrated the two platforms will further extend the Procore BIM capabilities. Thus, enabling owners and constructors to unlock BIM, streamline coordination, and connect critical BIM data seamlessly across the Procore platform.
New BIM mandates are appearing across Europe. BIM is already mandatory for some European construction projects in the UK, Germany, France, Austria and Russia, and others such a Poland in the legislative process. Large infrastructure projects make BIM a necessity, but they can also be onerous and time consuming. Tools such as Flypaper and Novorender take the pain out of them. They help deliver even greater value from the BIM platforms than ever before.
Steve Davis, President, Product & Technology, Procore, commented, “We’re excited to combine the power of Novorender and FlyPaper’s best-in-class BIM solutions into the Procore platform.
“BIM is an accelerant in the future of data-driven construction, and these additions will supercharge Procore’s existing BIM capabilities. Together, we’re working to deliver the most performant model-based construction management platform for large, complex projects.”
Novorender
Novorender was founded by CEO Tore Hovland in 2016 in Stavanger, Norway. It provides, what it claims, is the world’s most powerful 3D viewer and BIM Platform. Its patented software can render buildings 25x faster than current construction industry standards. The platform is already integrated with over 50 systems and data formats, including ArcGIS, Autodesk BIM360/ACC, IFS and SAP.
It does not currently list Procore, but with the experience gained from integration of other solutions, it should not take too long to start ingesting data. Once ingested, Novorender can visualise terabytes of BIM/GIS data in seconds.
The solution was developed to visualise ANY-size 3D/BIM data in the browser. To achieve this, it was built as an open system from the start. It leverages open construction standards (IFC, BCF, IDS, …) and has open APIs enabling information to flow freely in/out of Novorender. The 3D rendering engine supports every phase of the build lifecycle, from preconstruction to operations.
Helene Foldnes Skage, BIM Coordinator at Bane NOR, commented, “Novorender streamlines our infrastructure projects by enabling seamless coordination and communication among stakeholders. Its versatility and accessibility make it an indispensable asset, improving project outcomes for everyone, anywhere and anytime.”
Tore Hovland, CEO, Novorender, commented, “We are thrilled to join forces with Procore to continuously bring BIM to the forefront of construction management. Novorender’s ability to render sizable models in seconds will exponentially increase Procore’s BIM processing power. Enabling project teams around the globe to integrate complex models with new speed and efficiency.”
FlyPaper Technologies
FlyPaper, based in Michigan, already has an integration with Procore in place. It was built as an add-on for users of the Navisworks BIM solution. Its solution, Sherlock, enables people to connect different payers of building information and people. Thus, removing the friction that exists for many users of construction solutions today.
CEO Nick Fredrick founded the company with the goal of building simple yet powerful applications that remove the hours of computer-to-human translation and give time back to our customers to do what they’re best at. FlyPaper’s advanced algorithm is already leveraged by some of Procore’s ENR 400 customers.
Once FlyPaper is integrated, Procore BIM customers can gain access to automated and streamlined 3D design coordination, clash detection, and collaboration. This will improve predictability, reduce rework costs, and bolster jobsite safety.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
These two acquisitions, once fully integrated into the Procore platform will significantly advance the BIM capabilities for customers. There are several questions unanswered by the press release. The first is that it is unclear whether Fredrick and Hovland are joining the Procore team. And if they are in what capacity. Second there is no mention of what will happen to the existing customers of either organisation.
Will everything continue to be supported and will prices change?
As of writing, FlyPaper has already rebranded to become FlyPaper a Procore company, indicating perhaps that it is business as usual for the US firm. Novorender seems to have retained its current brand for the time being.
