Calgary-based PataBid has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding to help contractors move from construction drawings to priced estimates using artificial intelligence.
Graphite Ventures led the round, with participation from Sprout Fund, Bluesky Equities, Inverted Ventures, and previous angel investors. The funding will support AI product development, expand supplier partnerships and distribution channels, and accelerate commercialization across North America.
Founded by Melvin Newman, who brings more than 15 years of construction estimating experience alongside full-stack development expertise, PataBid targets a process still heavily dependent on spreadsheets, manual calculations, and legacy desktop software.
Its flagship platform, Quantify, combines AI-powered takeoff, the process of identifying and counting materials from drawings, with supplier pricing and direct material ordering. Designed for electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and fire protection contractors, the cloud-based software supports projects ranging from residential construction to industrial and institutional facilities.
PataBid says more than 200 contractors use Quantify, with over $2 billion in bid value processed through the platform to date. The company says its tools can reduce the time needed to turn drawings into a priced estimate from days to hours.
“PataBid has built something contractors genuinely need,” said Adrian Mitchell, Principal at Graphite Ventures. “Melvin and his team bring decades of industry knowledge to estimating, one of construction’s most outdated processes.”
The financing follows several milestones previously covered by Calgary.tech. PataBid was among Calgary’s 2025 Launch Party Top 10 and was subsequently selected for the inaugural TELUS Sovereign AI Accelerator, which pairs access to TELUS’s AI infrastructure with business advisory support from L-SPARK.
PataBid is now developing Newton, a conversational AI estimating agent designed to let users query drawings and specifications in natural language, identify risks before bidding, and explore how material or labour changes could affect an estimate.
Newton is in beta with a select group of customers, with a commercial launch planned for 2027.
“By integrating cutting-edge tooling directly into the estimator’s process, we’re helping contractors move faster and take on less risk with every bid,” said Newman.
Quantify is currently available across Canada and the United States, with annual licences starting at $2,460.
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