Constructor Launches Out of Stealth to Provide Radical Simplicity and Improved Collaboration for Software Teams

Raises $1M from top investors for solution that reduces friction and eliminates frustration for developers and managers

News provided by

Nov 09, 2021, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Constructor, which provides workflow management software, today announced the general availability of its lightweight, fast, and flexible task tracking and collaboration tool for software development teams. The company also announced it has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding from Flybridge, Nextview, Soma Capital, and angel investors including Michael Baker, co-founder and former CEO of DataXu. The new funding will be used to launch the company's go-to-market strategy and further invest in features that simplify the work of developers, designers, and product managers.

Constructor solves a problem faced by every new software product team leader: how to keep track of everything being built without getting bogged down by heavyweight tools that get in the way of developers. A recent survey found that 25% of software teams answer this question by using Trello – a generic project-tracking tool not specifically designed for software developers – because they value its simplicity so highly. Constructor is equally lightweight – software teams can get fully set up in under five minutes and hit the ground running with no learning curve – and is specifically designed for their needs. Unlike most development tracking tools, Constructor doesn't impose a rigid software development process but is flexible enough to let teams manage their process however they prefer.

In an industry of increasingly distributed teams, Constructor aims to dramatically improve efficient collaboration with a tool that's delightful for everyone on the team – not just the developers. It takes an innovative approach to comments to provide a communication channel that's lighter-weight than email but less ephemeral, and less disruptive to developers' concentration, than chat apps like Slack.

"The way software teams work has changed massively over the past decade as teams have become more distributed, chosen lighter processes, and adopted new practices and new tools like GitHub, Slack, and Figma. Tracking tools haven't kept up because what's required isn't new features; it's a complete rethink. Constructor was built from the ground up to fit the way modern teams are building software and to help them be as successful as possible," said Seth Purcell, Constructor co-founder and CEO.

By investing heavily in user research and innovative user experience design, Constructor has created a differentiated product that customers love. For example, threaded and assignable comments support asynchronous discussions with the ease of chat and foster clear visibility and responsibility so balls don't get dropped. An advanced GitHub integration reduces friction and provides helpful nudges to keep development on track. A novel approach to checklists provides a lightweight facility for breaking down work and gives managers insight into progress without imposing additional reporting burden on their teams. And a flexible ownership model supports the way teams really work – collaboratively and fluidly. Throughout its design, Constructor reflects the fact that software is built by people from diverse backgrounds working in a variety of roles, and strives to support their differing requirements equally well.

"Constructor is the first project management tool my team actually likes to use. Every feature feels like it's in exactly the right place, giving us just enough structure to move quickly without getting sucked into configuration hell," said Jeremy Weiskotten, VP Engineering at Form Health.

Constructor was co-founded in 2021 by two veterans of Signpost, a New York-based provider of CRM software. CEO Seth Purcell, an MIT graduate, served as Signpost's CTO for six years while Andrew Kallem, co-founder and lead software engineer and a graduate of Harvard, was an engineering team lead. Current customers include Stellar, SoloSegment, and Form Health.

"Software is rapidly expanding into every corner of the economy and the core tools that software teams depend on are rapidly evolving. It's baffling that these teams must choose between a lightweight but generic solution or overbuilt legacy products," said Rob Go, Co-Founder and Partner at NextView. "We believe that Constructor is creating the new backbone for software product teams and can eclipse legacy solutions in a similar way to companies like Notion, Figma, or Gitlab."

Constructor Key Features and Capabilities

Lightweight Simplicity – A minimalist design strives to stay out of the way, recognizing that complexity imposes a cost on fast-moving teams.
Threaded Comments with Assignment – Extremely lightweight asynchronous coordination minimizes disruption and provides enhanced visibility, clear responsibility, and persistence of decisions with their context.
Deep GitHub Integration – Reduces the friction of connecting code to tasks while offering helpful nudges to developers and managers to keep things on track.
Obsessively Clutter-Free Design – Reduces cognitive load and lets the team focus on what's important. A backlog section that can be hidden away when not in use reduces distraction.
Slack Integration – Harmonizes with the way teams communicate.
Process-Agnostic – Teams can use whatever development practices suit them rather than being pushed to adopt a particular way of working, and easily adapt how they use Constructor as their process evolves.
Flexible Ownership Model – Tracks team members' full responsibilities.
Stage Breakdown Checklists – A lightweight project breakdown structure also supplies valuable information to management without adding any process overhead.
Fast – A snappy user experience keeps busy team members efficient.

Constructor's product is available to demo or start using immediately at constructor.dev.

About Constructor
Constructor is the fast, flexible, and lightweight tracking and collaboration tool designed for modern, distributed software teams. The company is headquartered in New York City, though distributed from Capetown to the West Coast, and is backed by Flybridge, Nextview, and Soma Capital. For more information, visit constructor.dev.

SOURCE Constructor