The Riverside Company Clocks in with busybusy Investment

The Riverside Company (Riverside), a global private investor focused on the smaller end of the middle market, has invested in busybusy, Inc., developer of the popular time tracking software for construction and other remote industries. This investment is the latest add-on to Riverside’s portfolio company, ToolWatch, a leading provider of construction operations solutions connecting the field, warehouse and back office. The acquisition solidifies ToolWatch as the construction industry’s most comprehensive operations platform and will enable customers to drive lean initiatives by obtaining an accurate, timely snapshot of critical cost drivers like labor, equipment, tools and consumables. busybusy represents the second add-on for ToolWatch, following the acquisition of Safety Reports, a construction-focused safety and compliance management software platform, in February 2022.

Founded in 2010, busybusy’s GPS time tracking and jobsite monitoring software has tracked nearly 58 million timecard hours at thousands of construction companies in more than 30 countries. The company’s technology empowers field employees to track labor, materials and heavy equipment from an easy-to-use mobile app that gives management real-time insights into field crew productivity plus accurate data for improved job costing and estimating, faster payroll processing and better decision making. Considered a job site essential for its reliability and ease of use, busybusy’s user-friendly app is simple to implement in the field and to integrate with leading accounting, estimating, payroll, and project management software including Procore, QuickBooks and Sage.

“This investment represents a compelling opportunity to combine the ToolWatch and busybusy technologies to create a platform that provides a single, integrated view of asset, safety and labor operations management across disparate job sites,” said Riverside Micro-Cap Fund (RMCF) Managing Partner Loren Schlachet. “busybusy furthers our strategy of making ToolWatch a more integral part of construction operations and workflow management.”

busybusy is another example of Riverside’s commitment to investing in the Software & IT industry. The firm has completed over 260 investments in the sector and has a team of global experts dedicated to growing companies in this specialization.

“ToolWatch’s mission is to create powerful tools that help contractors better understand and navigate an increasingly complex business landscape,” commented Jay Martin, ToolWatch CEO. “busybusy’s record of innovation in time tracking for field-based workers is an ideal complement to the ToolWatch suite of construction operations solutions. Thanks to Riverside’s partnership, ToolWatch continues to aggressively build out its platform capabilities, most recently adding an integrated EHS module. Workforce management is the logical next step, since bringing these capabilities together creates safer, more efficient job sites.”

“busybusy is a transformative add-on for ToolWatch, and we are excited to work with the busybusy team to expand the company’s already successful product offering into a more fulsome solution that combines asset management and labor management,” said RMCF Senior Partner Joe Manning. “We plan to continue investing in new product features, as well as executing complementary add-ons that drive operational efficiencies for our customers.”

Working on the deal with Schlachet and Manning were Vice President Chris Shea, Senior Associate Erin Reger, Analyst Baylor McCrary and Operating Partner Traci Burgess. Managing Partner, Origination, Jeremy Holland sourced the investment opportunity for Riverside.