FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — April 04, 2024 — Las Olas Venture Capital (LOVC) and Lightbank co-led the pre-seed funding round, with participation from Parameter Ventures and Early Light Ventures.
Protiv, the world’s first fully integrated performance pay platform designed for the full scope of construction and service company operations, announced today that it has closed $2.4 million in pre-seed funding.
In 2023, its first year in operations, Protiv facilitated almost $1 million in worker bonuses in 34 states, for clients–solving their labor shortages and productivity challenges. Workers on Protiv have seen their wages increase faster than inflation, even as labor costs went down. Customers, from small landscaping companies and mid-size trade contractors to large civil construction companies, have used Protiv to unlock teamwork, quality, production, communication, and safety.
According to The Association for General Contractors of America, “Contractors continue to be concerned about workforce shortages and the impact on construction prices and schedules.” Protiv’s co-founders, Michael Fortinberry and David Franco – both construction industry veterans – created the platform to align desired business outcomes with meaningful employee bonuses, creating a culture shift for contractors.
“Our major focus at Protiv is improving the lives of hourly workers, because they are literally the people driving the construction industry and our economy in general,” says David Franco, co-founder of Protiv. "For far too long there has been a misalignment of incentives between workers and owners–a problem that has hindered wages, company culture, and growth. We plan to solve it."
The team will use the proceeds of this investment to build additional product features and expand its go-to-market strategy. Protiv’s mission to “Inspire Human Potential” is reflected in improving the quality of life for workers, creating collaboration between management and field teams, and helping contractors attract skilled employees. Overcoming these challenges is critical for construction to realize its full opportunity to support US economic growth.
“Our whole industry is struggling to find enough skilled workers, facing a current labor shortfall of about 8%, with flat hourly pay models doing nothing to help,” says Fortinberry. “With Protiv, we are seeing 10% wage growth and a 12-15% production lift from the teams we already have. This functionally solves the US labor shortage problem and overcomes inflationary pressures on our workers.”
Fortinberry and Franco built and tested Protiv on their own successful construction company, creating better alignment between workers and company goals. As more contractors tried Protiv’s model, they proved that when workers were motivated to do quality work productively, they more often beat their deadlines, lowering company costs.
“Protiv is well positioned to play a major role in solving labor and production issues in the US construction industry,“ says Mark Volchek, Founding Partner at Las Olas Venture Capital. “David and Michael invested 6 years into solving the incredibly complex legal, technical, and human challenges faced when disrupting the traditional hourly pay model.”
Deloitte’s 2024 Engineering and Construction Industry Outlook stated, “Digitalization and generative artificial intelligence are likely to be foundational for value realization in the construction industry.” Even if this is true, it does little to solve a shortage of skilled labor forecasted to worsen. So, while some companies rightly focus investments on 3D modeling and robots, the investment in human potential may be the most lucrative.
Looking forward, the team at Protiv has a comprehensive roadmap of innovations that will invest back into the American worker.
