Shovels

Name: Shovels
Brand: Shovels

AI Native

The intelligence layer for the built world.

Est 2022|Valuation $12M|Raised $8.3M|15 Ref Customers

LinkedIn 3K|Website|Web traffic 13K|FTEs 10|HQ Lafayette, California, US

MarketsLocation Intelligence

Published Oct 15, 2026

01Common complaints

- If bid workflow tooling is the primary requirement - Organizations focused on ITBs, planroom management, takeoff/estimating integration, and bid pipeline workflows should evaluate ConstructConnect, Dodge, or other bid platforms that provide end-to-end bid workflows. - If strict security and compliance documentation is required up front - If procurement requires SOC 2 Type II or ISO 27001 evidence and detailed security documentation prior to contract, the vendor may require additional diligence because public documentation of these certifications was not found in this research. - If guaranteed coverage completeness for a small set of jurisdictions is mission-critical - Permit availability and completeness vary by jurisdiction; buyers with a narrow set of mission-critical geographies should validate coverage and latency via a proof of concept. - If budget constraints favor very narrow or occasional use - Documented entry pricing may be high for teams that only need occasional permit checks or coverage limited to a single region. - Coverage and availability limitations - U.S. permit data is inconsistent across jurisdictions; vendor documentation acknowledges variability and the challenge of achieving full nationwide completeness. - Vendor-stated coverage figures indicate coverage across multiple jurisdictions but imply gaps remain. - Methodology transparency limitations - The vendor describes using machine learning and large language model (LLM) processing to normalize permits and categorize work. Publicly accessible documentation does not provide a fully auditable methodology, nor systematic benchmarking (precision/recall or error rates by jurisdiction) versus independent datasets or competitors. - Security and compliance documentation gaps - No public SOC 2 or ISO 27001 claims were found in this research; buyers should request formal attestations during procurement. - Review coverage limitations - Limited presence on mainstream B2B review platforms reduces the availability of independent, balanced user feedback in publicly accessible sources.

Deal disqualifiers (poor fit)

Organizations that require documented enterprise security attestation prior to procurement and cannot accept additional vendor diligence time
Organizations that only need free or limited public datasets and do not need contractor-level enrichment
Organizations whose primary need is bid invitations, planrooms, or estimating workflows rather than permit intelligence

02Why they buy

- Competitive advantages documented in vendor materials (with caveats) - Multiple delivery interfaces (web app, API, data warehouse, GIS support, CLI) are documented and can be useful for organizations that span business users and developers. - Inclusion of government decision signals in addition to permit records is presented by the vendor as a source of earlier project indicators; buyers should validate the breadth and accuracy of these signals for their use case. - Vendor case studies report improvements in permit-triggered outreach engagement, but reported metrics are vendor-published and not independently verified in the sources reviewed. - Where competitors have relative advantages - Bid platforms (ConstructConnect, Dodge) provide broader bid workflow tooling and network effects. - BuildZoom Data emphasizes long historical records and licensure coverage and may be better for longitudinal analysis if validated.

03Field reports

Important constraint - Shovels does not appear to have substantial coverage on mainstream B2B review platforms (G2, TrustRadius, Gartner Peer Insights) that was accessible in this research workflow. - As a result, balanced review evidence is sourced primarily from vendor case studies (which are inherently positive), community discussions about permit-data options (more candid but infrequently Shovels-specific), and limited third-party commentary and comparisons. - Vendor-provided testimonials and case studies - Beam case study (vendor PDF) - Vendor-reported results: - A vendor-stated moderate increase in contractor engagement after integrating Shovels data into outreach processes. - Vendor claims regarding dataset scale describe a very large number of building permits analyzed monthly and ongoing monthly additions measured in the millions; these scale claims are presented in the case study. - Qualitative vendor claims in the case study reference regularly updated leads and favorable onboarding support. These statements are vendor-published and lack independent verification in the materials reviewed. - Community and public discussion - In a practitioner forum thread about sourcing public permit data, a commenter stated that BuildZoom and Shovels were realistic options due to operational difficulty in collecting data across jurisdictions. This is not a detailed product review but supports the broader point that assembling nationwide permit data independently is operationally complex, and that Shovels is considered among potential vendor options by some practitioners. - What customers appear to choose Shovels for (triangulated from official materials and community input) - Nationwide-ish coverage and normalization across multiple jurisdictions. - Faster identification of potential leads from recent permits. - Programmatic access via API and warehouse delivery options. - Reduced ETL and cleaning effort compared with raw jurisdictional data. - Common complaints and negative sentiment (evidence limitations) - Direct low-rated Shovels reviews were not found on major review platforms during this research. - The most defensible negative analysis in public materials is risk-based and common to permit/intelligence dataset buyers: lack of a publicly documented security/compliance posture, coverage gaps, and pricing concerns for small teams. - Deal-breakers and reasons prospects declined to purchase (inferred) - Absence of publicly documented security and compliance attestation can be a procurement barrier for regulated enterprises. - Coverage gaps for specific geographies or jurisdictions that are mission-critical to a buyer. - Pricing that may exceed the budget for small teams or narrow use cases.

Case Studies

- Beam (vendor PDF case study) - Implementation summary: - Beam used Shovels permits and contractor signals to identify contractors who recently pulled ADU permits, then triggered outbound outreach using contact information provided in the data feed. - Reported results: - Vendor-published materials report a double-digit percentage increase in contractor engagement and improved pipeline filling due to periodic updates. These results are presented in vendor materials. - Critical evaluation: - The case study is vendor-published and lacks independent validation. "Engagement" is not defined in measurable terms (e.g., reply rate, meetings set, conversion to paid customer). Baseline metrics and methodology are not detailed. - Audience product one-pager (vendor PDF) - Claimed dataset scale (vendor-published): - Hundreds of millions of building permits - Hundreds of millions of distinct properties - Hundreds of millions of home residents - Millions of building contractors - Critical evaluation: - Definitions and sourcing methodology for items such as "home residents" are not explained in public one-pagers; buyers should conduct diligence on provenance and permissible use for marketing or outreach.

04Best fit

Company sizes

Likely best fit:
- Mid-market to enterprise teams — organizations with dedicated recurring data budgets and/or a data team capable of integrating APIs or warehouse feeds.
Potential fit:
- Small teams that require data for a single geography may use the Online product, but published entry pricing may be a limiting factor unless ROI is clear.

Industries and verticals where adoption appears strongest (based on vendor targeting and examples)

Building materials and equipment suppliers
Construction technology companies
Energy and climate organizations focused on electrification and upgrades
Home services providers
Real estate teams involved in site selection
Telecom and fiber deployment planning teams
Example customer cited in vendor materials: Beam (financial platform for builders)

Roles and personas

- Decision makers: - VP/Director of Sales, Revenue Operations, Growth - Head of Data or Analytics Engineering - Product leaders at construction, proptech, or climate-tech companies building permit-driven features - End users: - Sales development representatives or outbound sales teams - Analysts (market sizing, territory planning) - GIS specialists - Developers building permit-driven applications

Pain points the product addresses

Fragmented and inconsistent permit data across jurisdictions
Difficulty identifying active contractors and projects at an early stage
Need for normalized geographic and categorical data to support analytics and operational workflows

Qualification criteria (what makes a strong fit)

Organizations that can monetize early signals from permits and government decisions through faster outreach, improved territory strategy, or product features dependent on permit activity
Organizations that require API or warehouse integrations beyond simple CSV exports

05The pitch

What the product does (core value proposition in objective terms)

- Shovels is a construction and built-environment data platform that normalizes fragmented U.S. building permit data and related contractor, property, and government decision signals into a ready-to-use dataset intended for search, analytics, lead generation, and integration. - Delivery modes include: - Shovels Online (web app) for searching, filtering, and exporting permits and contractor records to CSV. - Shovels API (developer platform) for programmatic lookup by address or contractor and for product integrations. - Enterprise Access / Enterprise Data License (EDL) via data-warehouse sharing (Snowflake/BigQuery/Databricks) or bulk file delivery. - GIS usage (QGIS/ArcGIS) and a command-line interface (CLI) tool oriented toward agent workflows.

Target market and market positioning

- The vendor describes the product as an "intelligence layer for the built world," noting that it captures early construction signals from permit activity and government decision data and aims to reduce data-wrangling effort. - Primary segments identified by the vendor include: - Building materials and equipment suppliers - Construction technology companies - Energy and climate organizations tracking electrification and upgrades - Home services providers - Real estate site selection teams - Telecommunications and fiber deployment planners

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