Billy

Billy is a construction compliance management platform focused on certificate of insurance (COI) tracking. The product centralizes collection, verification, storage and renewal tracking of vendor compliance documents — certificates of insurance, W9 tax forms, business licenses, contracts, safety certifications and similar records — for general contractors, developers, property managers and owners. Documents are categorized by status (compliant, non-compliant, waived), and automated email requests let vendors or their brokers upload files through a link without creating a login. Automated reminders are sent at three months, one month and on the day coverage expires.

Alongside the software, Billy operates as a licensed digital broker. TechCrunch reported that the company runs a marketplace for insurance solutions built on data captured by the SaaS platform, representing more than 30 carriers. A separate offering targets insurance brokers and carriers serving construction clients, providing agency-branded COI tracking, compliance review services as a revenue stream, automated policy-limit decisions, non-compliance notes and visual highlighting of certificate deficiencies.

The platform integrates with construction and back-office systems including Procore, Autodesk, CMiC, Sage 300, Oracle JD Edwards and DocuSign, syncing project and vendor data to avoid manual entry. Billy also applies AI to document review, automatically analyzing and categorizing submitted documents, detecting missing or expired information and flagging compliance issues.

Founding story

TechCrunch reports that Nyasha Gutsa and Grant Robbins founded Billy in 2020 as a pandemic project, combining Gutsa's background in construction product management with Robbins' decade of experience running a construction business. Gutsa, born in Zimbabwe, was a childhood pen pal of Michael Tyler Fisher of the Fisher real estate family; after Fisher's death the family provided a private scholarship for Gutsa to work at their construction company, after which he became a senior product manager at Procore. The founders said they were prompted to build Billy by rising risk in construction and the absence of insurance-industry workflows in construction technology. The company's about page adds that after speaking with more than 2,000 companies, the team found firms ranging from $1M to $1B in size tracking risk with conditionally formatted spreadsheets, cloud-drive folders and physical file cabinets.

Business model

Billy operates two connected revenue models. The first is a SaaS platform sold to general contractors, developers and property managers that collects, verifies and tracks compliance documents such as certificates of insurance, W9s and business licenses. The second uses the data generated by that platform to run a marketplace offering insurance solutions; Billy is described as a licensed digital broker representing more than 30 insurance carriers. Software is offered under at least two support tiers: a self-service 'Software-Only' plan and a 'Managed Services' plan that adds access to CRIS-certified compliance experts. Pricing is not published and is quoted per customer based on business size and document-management needs.

Subscription software sold on flexible, size-based pricing with self-service and managed-service support tiers, plus commission-style revenue implied by operating as a licensed digital insurance broker and marketplace representing more than 30 carriers; broker partners can also generate revenue from compliance review services.

Traction

TechCrunch reported in April 2023 that Billy's software had been used on high-speed rail projects as well as residential buildings and homes, that the company was a licensed digital broker representing more than 30 carriers, and that it had closed a deal with Procore; the Fisher family uses Billy for a Las Vegas property. The company's site claims use by ENR top-20 general contractors and displays policy and project counters, though the numeric values are not present in the captured pages.

Latest developments

The most recent dated items in the sources are the April 2023 announcement of an additional $2.5 million round and Procore services deal, and company blog posts dated August and September 2023. The current website lists integrations with Procore, Autodesk, CMiC, Sage 300, Oracle JD Edwards and DocuSign and describes AI-based document review.