Monday, May 28, 2007

Envista envisions growth following $5M funding

By Christopher Calnan

Beverly-based Envista Corp., which is developing cost-forecasting software for municipalities and organizations such as highway and public works departments, is expected to announce next week the company has raised $5 million in Series A funding.

Boston-based Egan-Managed Capital recently disclosed its participation in the $5 million financing of Envista in partnership with other investors including Hanover, N.H.-based Borealis Ventures, Providence, R.I.-based Point Judith Capital.

Envista board member David Martirano, a general partner at Point Judith Capital, said there's a strong market demand for such forecasting software.

Transportation officials have projected that federal, state and local governments plan to spend $155.5 billion improving highways and bridges this year, Envista officials said.

"There are no good tools to allow you to do planning and future planning," said Martirano. "These guys are looking for tools to better manage their assets."

Envista doesn't yet have customers or revenue, but lists IBM among its tech business partners. The company reports it plans to use the investment to further develop the technology by collaborating with prospective clients before going to market. Envista's technology was acquired from Barchan Associates LLC, a Winchester firm founded in 2002.

Martirano said he expects Envista's time to reach profitability to be "several years away."

Eric Teicholz, president of Graphic Systems Inc., a Cambridge-based firm specializing in facility management and real estate automation consulting, said software that tracks existing conditions of infrastructure and properties is already available. But he's not aware of a product that projects cost scenarios and risk analyses.

A Portsmouth, N.H., company, Bid2Win Software Inc., produces cost-estimating software for the road construction industry and is now developing software designed to track costs during construction projects.

CEO Rick Fiery co-founded Envista with Marc Fagan, former president and co-founder of Boston's Vanderweil Facility Advisors Inc.

Fiery previously served as vice president of global finance for Bentley Systems Inc., a Pennsylvania-based software company.

Before Bentley, he founded and served as CEO of Beverly software maker Infrasoft Corp., which was acquired by Bentley in 2003.

Fiery founded Infrasoft in 1994 by purchasing the distribution rights to a MOSS Systems Ltd. software package from Denver's Auto-trol Technology Corp. And in 1996, Infrasoft acquired Moss Systems Inc., a company based in the United Kingdom.