- Pillar helps construction companies replace spreadsheets and manual paperwork with a unified financial and operations platform.
- The company is now expanding across Europe and Latin America.
Milan-based startupPillar has raised a €12 million seed round led by Earlybird Venture Capital and Base10 Partners, with participation from Italian Founders Fund. The latest investment brings Pillar’s total funding to €15.2 million in under eight months since its public launch.
Founded in 2023 by Gabriel Guinea Montalvo, Paolo Tarsia Incuria, and Lorenzo Demaio, Pillar was created after the founders witnessed how construction companies struggled to manage cash flow, invoices, subcontractors, and site operations using outdated tools.
Construction is the world’s second-largest industry by GDP contribution, and one of the least digitised. Enterprise software assumes office workers sitting at computers. Construction companies have project managers, site foremen, subcontractors and labourers who live on their phones.
“Construction is the last major industry that hasn’t been rewired from the ground up. Every project runs on fragmented data, manual processes, and zero visibility — from the contractor’s back office to the workers on site. We are building the default operating system this industry depends on, in Italy, in Europe, and everywhere construction still operates in chaos,” says Gabriel Guinea Montalvo, CEO & co-founder of Pillar.
Pillar’s platform acts as a real-time operating layer for construction businesses. Contractors can track revenues, margins, workforce activity, invoices, procurement, and project performance from a single interface. The system integrates with accounting software, banking feeds, and WhatsApp-based site updates, allowing field workers and managers to share information naturally without changing existing workflows.
The startup operates in an increasingly competitive construction software market alongside companies offering project management, construction ERP, and financial workflow tools.
Italian rivals such as WeStatiX and myAEDES are also targeting digitisation opportunities in the sector. Internationally, Pillar competes with broader construction management platforms that focus on scheduling and administration.
However, Pillar is differentiating itself by combining financial visibility, site operations, workforce management, and communication tools into one integrated platform tailored specifically for contractors. Rather than forcing businesses to adopt rigid enterprise systems, the company works with existing workflows, particularly through WhatsApp-based updates directly from construction sites.
“We’ve backed category-defining platforms across Europe for three decades. Pillar has done in months what most companies take years to prove; they cracked a massive, complex industry and built something essential. This is key infrastructure and not a fintech play. We are excited to back team Pillar out of Italy,” shares Paul Klemm, general partner at Earlybird Venture Capital.
“We partner with founders and companies rewiring the real economy. Construction is one of the largest industries but remains one of the least automated. Pillar has already built the operating layer construction businesses in Italy rely on, and we’re backing Gabriel and the team to expand that success they have had in Italy internationally,” adds Caroline Broder, partner at Base10 Partners.
The new funding will now support three major priorities:, such as strengthening its position in Italy, expanding into selected European and LATAM markets, and launching new products for both businesses and homeowners. Pillar plans to add modules covering procurement, tender management, subcontractor coordination, banking services, and renovation workflows as it pushes toward its goal of becoming the default operating system for the construction industry.
By 2027, the company aims to reach 5,000 active clients and grow its workforce to 120 employees.
