Project Overview
• canibuild is a SaaS, B2B sales application that allows residential construction sales teams to immediately determine price, suitability, and position for any residential site-based build anywhere in the world, better, faster, and cheaper than anything else
• The platform uses a Geographic Information System (GIS) with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create an inclusive planning and design tool. It equips building sales teams with the tools needed to take customers through design, viability, and compliance in a visual way, enabling informed decision-making from the first consultation.
• It removes the expensive and time-consuming steps to sale by providing instant visibility of site details to the client and salesperson that will impact a build. No surveys, site visits, architects, town planners, or a single tape measure is needed.
• Its development was led by Timothy Cocaro and supported by Stella Cocaro, Deepankur Malhotra and Shuvajeet Nag, who all recognised the various pain points that were experienced in the residential construction industry from their experience working together at RESCON (one of Australia’s largest granny flat companies)
• Since its inception, canibuild has revolutionised the residential construction industry. In fact, 40% of the top 100 Home Builders in Australia (including but not limited to McDonald Jones Homes Group, Metricon and Clarendon Homes) are subscribers to the platform
• canibuild’s success was recognised by EVP and Regal Funds Management, who invested $8m in a Series A round earlier this year. This will help to expedite product development and supercharge expansion in new markets (namely New Zealand and the United States)
Organisation
Team
Timothy Cocaro, Stella Cocaro, Deepankur Malhotra and Shuvajeet Nag
Project Brief
• In their experience, Timothy, Stella, Deepankur and Shuvajeet identified that some of the construction industry’s biggest pain points were that:
o Sales teams were spread thin. They spent hundreds of hours a month driving from appointment to appointment as well as drawing and revising plans for clients
o Onsite, questions couldn’t be answered confidently. Clients were told “I’ll get back to you when I go back to the office”, or they were instructed to call the council directly
o They often lacked the knowledge about local planning rules and regulations, making it difficult to construct properties outside “their own backyard”
o Builders were running at a loss. They were investing hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars and countless hours to conduct searches, draft plans, understand the contours of the block and more. This was all unpaid work (before the client signed a contract or even paid a cent!)
• The construction industry needed a platform that could help to determine price, suitability and position for any residential site (regardless of location) quickly, easily and affordably. This became the initial brief they set out to achieve
• As a start-up, canibuild is constantly adding new features to improve the platform. Their goal is to continue to streamline the sales process to help subscribers maintain sales momentum from the first point of contact, not allowing a break in the process. In the near future, the platform will add new features including 3D, analytics and more.
Project Need
• The adoption of canibuild by those in the construction industry will ultimately alleviate the pressure that is felt across the board. As many in the industry know, it can be all-consuming. Two of our co-founders – Timothy and Stella – felt this firsthand when running their granny flat company RESCON. They worked late nights and weekends to complete site visits, catch up on quotes and more. In fact, Stella worked while she was in labour with her third child!
• The whole canibuild team strongly believes that builders and their teams need to embrace technology. They can sell more builds, quicker and easier with less overheads and human error, be professional and efficient. This way, builders can enjoy what they do, and regain control of their lives.
• The feedback that canibuild has received from clients to date indicates the platform is becoming an essential tool in their business’ day-to-day operations. Megan Reakes, Western Plains Franchisee of Narellan Pools, said: “I truly love canibuild. The efficiency and professionalism it has given our business has increased our conversion rate by over 12% in less than 12 months. It has given me invaluable time back in my life that was otherwise spent travelling hundreds of KMs to site inspections. In the digital contactless world of today, I can’t operate our business without it.”
User Experience
• The key is simple and quick. Their target audience is time-poor and want to know how much it costs, and how long it will take to implement. In some cases, business tech solutions set up can take months, unlike canibuild, which makes adoption quick and simple
• canibuild offers complete platform setup and training for all clients at no additional cost. The onboarding process can take as little as a few hours to have the designs set up and ready to site anywhere in Australia
• They also offer free support via their canibuild help desk, where users can request information and training. Each subscriber is managed by a dedicated Account Manager as their first point of call
• Each month, canibuild hosts “FAQ IT Hour” with Timothy, who showcases the latest updates to the platform and answers questions to help users get the most out of the platform
• Their conversion from demonstration to sign-up is just over 50%
• Feedback from Simon Curtis G.J. Gardner Homes NSW "We have been delighted by canibuild and we have very successfully incorporated the platform into our way of selling. Our New Homes Consultants have embraced the technology and love how it simplifies our sales process. The support from Tim, Jim and the canibuild office has been exceptional and their accessibility to all of our team has helped make the rollout of the platform so much easier.”
Project Marketing
To increase awareness of the brand and software, canibuild’s marketing strategy encompasses:
PR – Earned media activity that includes pitching newsworthy stories, corporate profiling and more
Award Entries – We have recently made finalists in PropTech Association of Australia PropTech Awards – Sales & Marketing Start Up category, as well as finalists in the PropTech Hub WA Awards in National PropTech and PropTech Leaders Australia.
Trade shows – canibuild will be exhibiting in June at the Sydney Build Expo and SPLASH! trade show on the Gold Coast.
Speaking engagements – Founder & CEO, Timothy Cocaro has been a guest on a number of podcasts in recent months, speaking about the change in the construction industry and the uptake of digital solutions in the residential construction space.
canibuild’s marketing spend in the first 12 months was $500 per month (there are no zeros missing here!)
Project Privacy
• canibuild is committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information.
• We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The APPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information.
• Our employees are obliged and trained to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by us. We use encryption technology to safeguard your credit card data used in electronic transactions.
Digital - New Service or Application
This can be any new service or application from a start-up to an industry leader. It’s not just bells and whistles we're after but true innovation, exceeding expectations and filling a void that had previously been open.
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