Announcing Skillit’s Partnership with DPR and Suffolk Technologies
This partnership, with two top 10 ENR firms, signals a broader shift as major construction companies work to resolve a skilled labor shortage by investing in AI-native workforce infrastructure.
NEW YORK - June 22, 2026 - Skillit, the AI-powered hiring platform transforming how construction workers are sourced, screened, and coordinated, today announced a strategic partnership with DPR Construction and Suffolk Technologies, the venture capital affiliate of Suffolk Construction. The partnership, supported by equity investments from WND Ventures, the venture capital arm of DPR, and Suffolk Technologies, marks a major milestone as leading construction firms begin investing directly in workforce infrastructure to address the industry’s ongoing skilled labor shortage.
The investment deepens Skillit’s partnership with two of the construction industry’s largest builders, who will serve as national-scale design partners, as the company continues building the AI infrastructure layer for craft hiring. Skillit has built the nation’s largest network of vetted craft workers and is increasingly being adopted by leading builders across the U.S. This partnership will support continued growth of Skillit’s worker network, workflows, data, automation capabilities, and executive team, ensuring it is well-positioned to execute at its next stage of scale as the company moves toward onboarding the next wave of workers and becoming the construction industry’s default craft and field labor infrastructure platform.
“The world’s ambition has outpaced its capacity to build, and today we lack both the skilled workforce and the systems needed to deploy that talent to deliver America’s most mission-critical projects,” said Fraser Patterson, Founder & CEO of Skillit. “Skillit’s mission is to solve construction’s labor shortage, starting with fixing access to the millions of skilled workers who already exist. Having strategic partners like DPR and Suffolk Technologies supporting that mission is a strong signal that the industry is ready for, and consolidating around, a new category of AI-powered craft hiring infrastructure.”
As labor shortages continue to add pressure on project delivery timelines nationwide, Skillit sees the construction industry entering a new era where workforce infrastructure will become as critical as project management, procurement, and scheduling systems.
“As a self-performing contractor, we understand firsthand how complex and dynamic the skilled craft labor needs are across our projects,” said Eric Lamb, Board Member of DPR Construction. “We see the future of construction hiring as more connected, more responsive, and grounded in real jobsite needs. Skillit’s platform reflects that direction with its AI-powered infrastructure that helps our teams more quickly and effectively connect with talent in the skilled trades. We’re excited to support an approach that expands access to meaningful work and drives more predictable outcomes for our project teams and their customers.”
“Construction’s workforce challenges require new infrastructure and smarter systems,” stated Jit Kee Chin, Chief Technology Officer at Suffolk Construction and Managing Partner of Suffolk Technologies. “Skillit is addressing a critical gap in the industry with technology purpose-built for the realities of construction hiring and labor deployment. As labor becomes the industry's most constrained resource, the ability to attract and deploy skilled talent will increasingly define the winners and losers in construction.”
"Suffolk Technologies has spent years tracking the evolution of workforce technology, and we believe Skillit is building one of the most important companies of this generation,” continued Diana Kay, Partner at Suffolk Technologies. “In an era defined by renewed investment in physical industries, Skillit is creating the foundational talent network for the 80% of workers who don't sit behind a desk, fundamentally changing how labor is found, mobilized, and managed across the global economy."
The announcement also reflects growing momentum around Skillit’s role within the broader construction ecosystem. In addition to DPR Construction and Suffolk Construction, Skillit is also being adopted and expanded nationally by dozens of leading industry players including Swinerton, Mortenson, and Brasfield & Gorrie Industries, further supporting the company’s continued growth across the built world.
About Skillit
Skillit is construction’s first AI-powered hiring platform on a mission to fix the industry’s labor shortage. Built on America’s largest network of vetted craft workers, Skillit’s AI helps enterprise, mid-market and small contractors source interview-ready talent with a level of speed, precision, and scale never before possible. For more information, visit www.skillit.com.
About DPR Construction DPR Construction is a forward-thinking, self-performing general contractor and construction manager specializing in technically complex and sustainable projects for the advanced technology, life sciences, healthcare, higher education and commercial markets. DPR’s portfolio of work ranges from large-scale new construction to small tenant improvements and special projects. Founded in 1990, DPR is a great story of entrepreneurial success as a private, employee-owned company that has grown to a multi-billion-dollar organization with offices around the world. The company is strategically focused on delivering more predictable outcomes through applications of virtual design & construction, prefabrication, its team of self-perform craft, and leveraging data to learn and improve from. DPR consistently ranks among the top building contractors and employs more than 11,000 professionals across its family of companies. For more information, visit https://www.dpr.com.
About WND Ventures WND Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of DPR Construction, investing in early- and growth-stage companies that are transforming how the built environment is designed, constructed, and operated. Since 2015, WND has partnered with forward-thinking innovators to solve complex industry challenges, providing capital, expertise, and access to real-world projects and data. By focusing on practical applications of AI, automation, and collaborative innovation, WND helps bring solutions to market that deliver more consistent and predictable outcomes across DPR’s projects and the broader construction ecosystem. Learn more at https://www.dpr.com/wnd-ventures.
About Suffolk Technologies Suffolk Technologies is a venture capital platform funding the next generation of companies solving built environment challenges. Led by Managing Partners Wan Li Zhu, Jit Kee Chin, and Puneet Mahajan, Suffolk Technologies invests in early and growth-stage startups transforming the built world across real estate and development, architecture, engineering and construction, property management, infrastructure, and smart cities. Leveraging Suffolk’s expertise and broad network of industry leaders, Suffolk Technologies partners with visionary founders to accelerate industry-wide adoption of breakthrough innovations ranging from pre-product to growth stages. Suffolk Technologies is ranked by AGC as the “#1 Most Active Construction Tech Investor” from 2018-2025. For more information about Suffolk Technologies’ strategy and investments, visit SuffolkTech.com.
Media Contact
The Colab, PR for Skillit
skillit@colabcomms.co
