Construction, a sector in digital divide

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Construction is the sector The least digitized in France, even though it employs more than 1.2 million people! 9 out of 10 projects don't stick to their budget or schedule, and 1/3 of the time it's the lack of communication that's questioned by professionals. On a daily basis, this means: teams that don't understand each other, hours spent on “non-productive” tasks (information retrieval, error management), and In fine human tensions between the field and the office. Studies estimate that the sector could save 1,500 billion euros per year by simply increasing productivity!

So why is there such a delay? When we survey the 400,000 French companies in the sector, 44% cite the “reluctance of field teams” as the first obstacle to digitization. Indeed, in the age of ChatGPT and the rise of AI, not all sectors are equal. The constraints of using software on site (low-performing smartphones, foreign languages, age of the population, weather) are for example very different from those of office software.

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Kraaft, the “Super-WhatsApp” for construction sites

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Faced with this observation, Marc Nègre (CPO), Cédric Boidin (CTO) and Thomas Rey( CEO) launched Kraaft in 2020. The “super-messaging” application, whose interface at first resembles WhatsApp, is used in a few seconds by anyone, regardless of their digital level! The entire life of construction sites is centralized in real time. But unlike traditional messaging, users can then use specialized modules to better monitor their projects: geolocation of photos, folders with project plans, message classification, security audits, intervention reports. Everything is done within the mobile application, on the same model as the WeChat “super-messaging” application in China.

Already 10,000 users in France

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With this simplicity, Kraaft has attracted more than 300 French companies in less than 3 years, from small businesses to large groups, and is already targeting 10,000 users in France by the end of the year. Counting among its customers very beautiful SMEs, as well as renowned players such as Bouygues, Veolia, Fayat and NGE, the startup was also identified and selected by Léonard, VINCI's foresight and innovation platform, which welcomed it into its acceleration program in 2022.

“We were looking for a solution that was easy for our companions in the field to take control of, capable of equipping all our field jobs at VINCI. The very good adaptation of Kraaft to our sites and construction sites has earned excellent feedback on the solution, even among populations that are less comfortable with digital technology.”, testifies Julien Villalongue, director of Leonard.

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Kraaft raises €3.2 million to accelerate its development

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In this context, Kraaft — which is now growing by more than 10% per month — convinced investment funds Chalfen Ventures, Stride VC, OSS Ventures, and renowned business angels such as Thibaud Elziere, Eduardo Ronzano, Eduardo Ronzano, Charles Songhurst, Charles Songhurst, Charles Songhurst, Charles Songhurst, Quentin Nickmans and Amaury Sepulchre, to secure a seed round of €3.2 million. “This operation will allow us to invest in product development and to consolidate our position on the French market”, explains Thomas Rey, co-founder and CEO of Kraaft.

But the company also has other ambitions: to accelerate its international presence — especially in the United States, where it is already conquering its first users — and perhaps expand to verticals other than construction. “80% of the world's population does not work behind a computer in everyday life, and the digital divide is real. WhatsApp is a brilliant simple answer, but it's not enough: you need to be able to link everyday exchanges to business processes. This is the approach that we have developed, and that we hope to be able to extend tomorrow to other operational sectors such as industry, retail, agriculture.”, explains Marc NEGRE, co-founder and CPO of Kraaft.

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About Kraaft

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Launched in 2020 by Marc Nègre (CPO), Cédric Boidin (CTO) and Thomas Rey( CEO), Kraaft is a “super-messaging” application dedicated to site monitoring. As easy to learn as WhatsApp, it allows construction actors to streamline their communication on site and presents 3 major differences with a simple messaging system: the geolocation of photos, the management of plans, and the creation of personalized reports. Selected by VINCI as part of the Léonard program, Kraaft currently works for 300 companies, from small businesses to large groups, and has nearly 10,000 users.

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