March 21 (Reuters) - BuildOps said on Friday it has

raised $127 million in a late-stage funding round at a valuation

of $1 billion, as it looks to scale operations and meet growing

demand from contractors for its AI-enabled software platform.

The Series C funding round was led by Meritech Capital

Partners and saw participation from new investors such as

Schneider Electric's SE Ventures and BOND Capital as well as

existing investors Fika Ventures and Next47, among others.

Advancements in AI and easier access to such technologies

have opened avenues for new sectors to improve productivity and

reduce costs.

BuildOps, which offers a consolidated platform for

commercial contractors to manage accounts, customer

relationships and other operations, has seen huge demand for its

services, the company said.

"The modern contractor that we work with is now going to

have the insights from volumes of data that we're putting AI

against to try to project cost overruns before they happen,"

Chief Operating Officer John Laino told Reuters.

"Historically, they would have to wait three or four months

into a project, and sometimes it was too late to

course-correct."

The company, backed by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, has been

growing at a 100% rate for several years and expects to grow at

a high rate in the short-to-medium term, CEO Alok Chanani said,

adding that going public is part of the vision. He, however, did

not specify a timeline.

"We're in a hyper-growth stage today, and so, profitability

is not a core focus of the business right now. Our focus is

really on growth and investing heavily in R&D and product

development and continuing to expand our market reach and

customer acquisition," Chanani said.

The company expects to make strategic acquisitions that

could be mutually beneficial. BuildOps had bought PWSWARE, the

parent company of software platform Perfectware Solutions, in

2023 for an undisclosed amount.