Editor’s note: This is one of five startup profiles featuring the latest recipients of $50,000 NC IDEA grants. The winners were announced Thursday.
According to Fabio Ayala, the construction industry has a problem with the flow of information at job sites. “Only key foreman had access to the plans,” said Ayala.
Fabio Ayala.
In 2016, he set out to change this after arriving in Charlotte to lead a multifamily build. The app, Vizla, is designed to eliminate the confusion and time that construction workers waste searching for relevant, accurate information at a job site.
It works by providing simple and easy access to construction plans and other relevant job or site information through a mobile application that scans an image using the device’s camera.
Using this technology allows a contractor to build faster, make fewer errors, and increase profits, said Ayala, a 15-year industry professional that has experience in all phases of construction.
The company’s application is already in use, and Ayala plans to release the second version soon. The funds from receiving the grant will be allocated to product development and the improvements to the next iteration of the company’s application, said Ayala.
“Vizla is first to market by offering packaged information,” said Ayala, who first learned about the NC IDEA SEED grant through Innovate Charlotte. “We are the first to take this information, simplify it, and make it easily accessible to everyone on a job site.”
Everyone in the field gains access. And that’s the differentiator, said Ayala. “We have democratized the information; our competitors have simply digitized it.”
