Thursday, September 2, 2010

Vela Systems lands $6M Series B round, led by Autodesk

By Michelle Lang

Vela Systems Inc. has built up its coffers with a new $6 million Series B round of funding, led by new investor Autodesk Inc. Vela said it will use the funds to expand its partnership with Autodesk in the Building Information Models (BIM) market.

Joining Autodesk in the new round were previous backers Commonwealth Capital Ventures, GrandBanks Capital and unnamed private individuals. Burlington-based Vela makes mobile field software for the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Last year, Autodesk started incorporating Vela’s construction field management software with its own Navisworks Manage product, officials said.

Founded in 2005, Vela Systems had what it describes as a “record-breaking” first half of 2010. In July 2009, the company added $4.5 million in equity financing with an apparent inside extension to a Series A round.  With its Series A round bumped up to $10.5 million, Vela’s total funding is now at least $17.9 million – including a $1.4 million angel round closed in 2006.

In September 2009, Vela Systems CEO Tim Curran said that he was not seeking any new backers.  “I think generally at this stage we’ve got deep enough pockets so to speak — so bringing a third at this point doesn’t really add a lot,” he said at the time. “I’m  not saying it would be a negative thing, but it would add another player to the table, and that wasn’t something we were ready to do.”

Based in California, Autodesk introduced AutoCAD software in 1982.