Why This Matters to Distributors: The deal combines two software providers serving residential and commercial audio/video, security and low-voltage integrators, bringing proposal, quoting, design, project management, and procurement tools under one company. D-Tools CEO G Paul Hess will lead the combined business.
D-Tools Inc. and Portal.io have merged, combining two software providers serving residential and commercial audio/video, security, and low-voltage integration businesses.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
G Paul Hess will remain CEO of D-Tools and lead the combined company. Portal.io founder and CEO Kirk Chisholm will become chief product officer, overseeing product vision and strategy across the combined portfolio.
Josh Willits, chief operating officer of Portal.io, will become head of Portal.io and continue running that business unit.
The deal brings together software platforms used by thousands of integration businesses for functions ranging from proposals and quoting to system design, project management, scheduling, and procurement.
D-Tools, based in Reno, Nevada, has operated for 28 years and offers two primary platforms: D-Tools Cloud and D-Tools System Integrator. Portal.io, founded in Chicago, has operated for 15 years and focuses primarily on proposal and quoting software for custom integrators in the U.S. and Canada.
The companies have worked together for more than a decade. Portal.io’s managed product catalog was previously integrated with D-Tools System Integrator.
“Bringing D-Tools and Portal.io together gives our industry something it has never had before: the most established platforms in custom integration, the integrator communities that have grown up around them, and the most complete product data, now backed by one team,” Hess said.
The companies said they will continue operating all three software products following the merger rather than immediately consolidating customers onto a single platform.
Portal.io will remain focused on proposals and quoting. D-Tools Cloud covers a broader range of functions, including sales, system design, proposals, project management, scheduling, and service. D-Tools System Integrator is designed for larger and more complex integration businesses.
Existing customers will remain on their current products and subscription terms, according to the companies. They said there are no plans to discontinue any of the three platforms or require customers to migrate to another system.
The merger also combines the companies’ product data operations.
D-Tools maintains a product catalog containing specifications and pricing from thousands of manufacturers and distributors. Portal.io operates its own managed catalog. The companies said combining those data resources is expected to improve product information and specification workflows across their software platforms.
Product data is particularly important to the integration market because dealers use it to develop proposals, specify equipment, generate quotes, and purchase products from manufacturers and distributors.
The companies also plan to expand the use of artificial intelligence across their software.
Portal.io has developed an AI-based proposal builder, while D-Tools has been adding AI capabilities to its platforms. The combined company said it intends to apply AI across sales, system design, project management, and other integrator workflows.
The companies did not announce specific new AI products, investment amounts, or a timetable for introducing additional capabilities.
The merger gives D-Tools a broader range of software for integration of businesses of varied sizes, from small dealers primarily looking for proposal and quoting tools to larger companies requiring software for design, sales, project management, and procurement.
It also represents consolidation in a software market serving businesses that install and integrate increasingly complex combinations of audio/video, security, networking, and other low-voltage systems.
“Portal.io was built on one idea: understand dealers better than anyone, and build software they love to use,” Chisholm said. “We have known and worked with D-Tools for more than a decade, and what has always been clear is how aligned we are on what integrators actually need.”
The combined company said it plans to continue expanding in commercial and international markets while maintaining existing relationships with distributors, buying groups and industry associations.
D-Tools serves thousands of integrator businesses worldwide across residential and commercial audio/video, security, and other low-voltage markets. Portal.io serves thousands of dealer businesses in the U.S. and Canada.
The companies did not disclose revenue, employee counts, ownership terms, or other financial details of the merger.
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