Vertuoza is a SaaS solution to manage all processes for small and mid-sized construction companies. Today, the company is raising 1.2M€, in a deal led by XAnge alongside WING (SRIW) and some business angels : Thibaud Elzière, Eduardo Ronzano, Nicolas Steegman, Frédéric Montagnon and Guillaume Luccisiano.
Before Vertuoza, Antoni Di Filippo, exec chairman of the company (and Chief Vision Officer) built and ran the most structured mid-sized construction company in Belgium (Di Filippo). His secret? Software.
In contrast to most competitors in the construction business, he hired a software wizard early on in the life cycle of his business: Kevin Vermeulen, who developed an intuitive ERP backbone, supporting all key aspects of daily business. Antoni was amazed by the productivity gains achieved.
If software was so beneficial to his own business, perhaps it could also help many construction professionals, he thought – and Vertuoza was born. The name says it all: Vertuoza puts your business on a “Vertuous” cycle. With mundane tasks well under control, you can focus on the high-contribution items, which in turns generates more business.
In 2020, Dominique Pellegrino joined the team as CEO. Prior to Vertuoza, he spent 15 years in the software business, as sales and product director: with his former associates, he built a €25M ARR CRM and accounting software for mid-sized companies. At Vertuoza he’s in charge of scaling the business and runs the daily operations.
In just one year, the team posts amazing growth rates while showing solid customer satisfaction and retention rates. That’s the result of the alliance of Dominique’s sales and marketing experience, Kevin’s technical skills and Antoni’s subject matter expertise.
Contech is currently seeing massive successes with the recent IPO of Procore ($11bn valuation), but also companies like Fieldwire, Aconex, Dalux. Those companies tend to address big projects, whereas the ambition of Vertuoza is to help small construction businesses. In contech, and especially in this segment of SMEs, knowing the reality of the job is fundamental.
Indeed, Antoni Di Filippo started working in the construction business at age 19, when he started buying and renovating houses, before selling them. He is a true self-made man with incredible energy and vision, who perfectly knows the needs of SMEs. With Vertuoza, he addresses a long tail of general contractors, roofers, painters, heating engineers, electricians, carpenters, plumbers and so on… Namely, the partners and counterparts of his own construction company!
In their vast majority, those SMEs are still not digitized at all. They suffer from a lack of transparency and have no vision on which projects are profitable or not. With a vertical solution such as Vertuoza, they are now able to get quick and accurate quotations, optimize resources management, keep their finances under control and manage all their construction projects. In sum, Vertuoza is a platform made by and for the construction ecosystem. It will enable everyone in this market to be more efficient and profitable, thanks to innovative digital tools that keep improving over time.
Very soon, the product will be available outside Belgium. Even if there will still be some local specificities (regarding tax and regulation in particular), the needs of SMEs in construction are quite the same worldwide.
As Odoo proved it, Belgium is a favorable ground to grow global unicorn. We are sure Vertuoza will follow the same path!
