July 20th, The Shop Salt Lake City member company Iris Technologies officially announced an oversubscribed $3.2 million seed round! Led by Resolute Ventures with Animo ventures, Long Journey Ventures and Grix Venture Capital, this round will fuel their launch of the world’s first communication hub built for construction project mangers and engineers.

One of the last industries waiting for a significant disruption, the construction process is still significantly people-driven. To build and develop, the United States alone houses millions of managers specializing in construction led to communicate constantly to problem solve problems. Gaps in communication at any point in the chain of command leads to losses of up to $500 billion each year.

Iris Technologies Happy Hour on The Shop Rooftop

Iris Technologies aim to cut the hours project managers spend organizing and tracking by half and streamline pain points leading to a stronger peace of mind. The three co-founders shared more in the release associated with the raise —

“Construction managers are under tremendous pressure to keep the 50+ stakeholders on a project on the same page. It’s an incredibly hard job. Iris makes keeping everyone aligned simple and easy, enabling project managers and engineers to work smarter and deliver critical tasks with less stress,” said Patrick Brown, co-founder and head of engineering, Iris Technologies.

“Our product really is something unique,” said Elijah Zenger, co-founder and head of product. “By connecting to Outlook and providing communication & productivity tools directly aligned with how projects are actually built, we’re keeping things from falling through the cracks and are really helping the people that move the construction industry forward. It’s hard to overstate the amount of value we’re positioned to deliver.”

“I lived the problem when I was managing a project – the people in this industry absolutely deserve a new generation of software tools to help them get work done. By giving some of the most influential people on a project peace-of-mind, we’re on track to becoming a must-have for any commercial general contractor,” said Josh Whisenant, co-founder and CEO, Iris Technologies. “I’m grateful to our partners – Resolute, Animo, Long Journey, Grix, and dozens of angels, advisors, and friends – for giving us an opportunity to bring a true game-changer to the construction industry.”

We are proud to be the home of team Iris Technologies and look forward to watching their growth!