PataBid Raises $2 Million Pre-Seed Round to Modernize Construction Estimating with AI

CALGARY, Alberta (October 20, 2026) – Calgary-based PataBid has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding to transform how contractors estimate complex subtrade construction projects.

Led by Graphite Ventures, with participation from Sprout Fund, Bluesky Equities, Inverted Ventures and previous angel investors, the round will deepen PataBid's AI product development capabilities, expand its supplier partnerships and distribution channels, and accelerate commercialization across North America.

PataBid was founded by Melvin Newman, who brings more than 15 years of construction estimating experience and full stack development expertise to the company. Melvin founded PataBid with a mission to bring advanced technology to preconstruction. Backed by a team with decades of trade and estimating experience, PataBid is well positioned to identify and solve the pain points in modern subtrade construction estimating.

"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 "Melvin and his team bring decades of industry knowledge to estimating, one of construction's most outdated processes. It's a pain contractors feel on every bid. PataBid is proving there's a better way, and building the next generation of AI-powered software to deliver it." 

Contractors in complex subtrades like electrical, plumbing and fire protection are still heavily reliant on manual estimating methods and legacy software. There are more than 463,000 of these contractors across North America. Every project they build starts with an estimate that requires counting every nut and bolt to arrive at an accurate price. Yet the tools most contractors rely on have barely changed in decades. Many firms still work from spreadsheets, pen and paper, or legacy desktop software that is being sunset.

Inspired by Melvin's own experience as a construction estimator, PataBid built Quantify, a cloud-native, AI-powered estimating platform that takes drawings to a priced estimate in hours instead of days. Symbol recognition and natural language processing automate takeoff, direct supplier integrations populate real-time pricing, and contractors can order materials directly, all in one tool. Flexible enough to serve small to enterprise sized contractors, Quantify supports residential, commercial, industrial and institutional projects.

Today, more than 200 contractors across electrical, mechanical and fire protection trades use Quantify, and more than $2 billion in bid value has been processed on the platform to date.

Building on that foundation, PataBid is currently developing Newton, a conversational AI estimating agent that lets estimators query complex drawings and specifications in natural language, identify project risks before bidding, and run "what-if" scenarios on material and labour changes. Newton is currently in beta with a select group of customers, with commercial launch planned for 2027.

"We see PataBid's future in revolutionizing how the industry estimates complex plumbing and electrical work," said Melvin Newman, Founder and CEO of PataBid. "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. We are building the software that will define preconstruction for the future."

PataBid Quantify is available now to electrical, mechanical, plumbing and fire protection contractors across Canada and the United States, with licenses starting at $2,460/year. Contractors can book a demo at patabid.com.