INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (June 11, 2024) – – Three years ago, VisionTech Angels investors took a chance and invested in an early-stage startup from Cleveland, Ohio, called OnStation that had developed an application to make highway construction projects more efficient, more accurate, and safer for workers. This week OnStation, now the leading provider of digital stationing solutions for the heavy highway industry and poised for massive growth, announced it had successfully raised $8.5 million in a Series A Round.
VisionTech participated in the Series A round, with 37 investors writing checks totaling $467,000. In total, VisionTech has invested $1.27 million over three rounds in OnStation since 2021. The Series A round was led by JumpStart Ventures with participation from Frontier Angels, Up2 Opportunity Fund, JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund, Next Chapter Ventures, North Coast Ventures, New Dominion Angels, and other individual investors.
VisionTech Executive Director Ben Pidgeon says OnStation’s successful raise in a tough economy is a testimony to the progress the company, led by CEO Patrick Russo, has made in just three years. “When Patrick first pitched our group in 2021, the company had a handful of early adopters using its application. Today, OnStation’s platform has evolved into a robust, location-based project record that provides users with instant access to stationing, design layers, and plans from project initiation through completion via a mobile app.
“With the increase in functionality, OnStation now serves multiple state Department of Transportation (DOT) clients and more than 200 contractors, integrating seamlessly with major industry software to streamline communication and data management. Patrick’s vision, ability to recruit great people, execute to plan, and meet milestones have led to OnStation’s impressive success to date and VisionTech investors’ loyalty,” Pidgeon says.
In addition to financial backing, VisionTech investor Scott Noble serves on the OnStation board of directors. VisionTech also provides business advisory services as needed.
“We are grateful to have VisionTech Angels and other investors such as JumpStart that believed in us from the very beginning and have remained in our corner as investors, advisors and advocates,” says Russo. “Startups are never easy, but the right investors provide rocket fuel and a hundred other things that keep you on track.”
According to Russo, the highway construction industry and specifically, how it manages large projects is ripe for disruption. Ninety-six percent of construction data is unstructured and unused, while workers spend eighteen percent of their time struggling to find project-critical data. Users quickly find that OnStation’s application greatly improves project management and are clamoring for more functionality.
“OnStation’s integrated platform has the potential to be used in every road project in the United States, and this investment is allowing us scale our market presence and functionality more quickly to meet the incredible demand,” Russo says.
About VisionTech
Founded in 2009, VisionTech is a privately held company that links investors to high-potential, early-growth companies. Based in Indianapolis, VisionTech’s angel investing network includes more than 140 active members across Indiana and Ohio. As of December 2023, 175 VisionTech member investors have deployed more than $24.8 million in capital, investing in 65 portfolio companies from across the United States. Membership is open to accredited investors. Those interested in joining are encouraged to contact VisionTech.
About OnStation
OnStation is a collaborative digital stationing platform that offers location-based project records from bid to close. Specifically designed for the heavy highway industry, OnStation’s mobile app centralizes communication, boosts productivity, enhances worker safety, and improves project quality. Users benefit from instant jobsite stationing, milepost and LRS capabilities. They can overlay design layers on the project map and communicate via a custom chat platform that organizes and records project events at their locations. OnStation is available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store and is supported on all desktop systems. Learn more.