219
We ended last year with a look at how local companies are changing the inside of our homes. From hiring movers to protecting our loved ones in each room, Southeast startups are playing a major role in helping us define what “home sweet home” means to each of us today.
But what about the building of those homes?
2023 wrapped up with two Southeast startups – BotBuilt and PaintJet – closing funding rounds to help grow their robotics-focused construction concepts. That focus on construction automation makes sense, given the nation-wide housing crisis and labor shortage that has grown coming out of the pandemic.
It turns out that there are several growing startups across the Southeast that are helping transform how we actually build those homes and the buildings were we spend most of our time.
Here are a few that you should know about in the commercial real estate and construction innovation space:
1. BotBuilt (Durham, North Carolina)
Using AI and robotics, BotBuilt is on a mission to lower the cost of home construction and automate the way we create homes. Headquartered in North Carolina’s Research Triangle, BotBuilt rounded out 2023 with a $12.4 million seed round at a $22.6 million pre-money valuation from Y Combinator, Shadow Ventures, Owens Corning, and Ambassador Supply, according to Crunchbase.
2. BUILT (Nashville, Tennessee)
Working at the intersection of construction and FinTech, Nashville’s Built has quite literally built a niche for itself in the construction lending space. The platform streamlines the processes behind construction loans and CRE (commercial real estate) management.
3. HIGHARC (Durham, North Carolina)
North Carolina’s Higharc has high ambitions: Improve how we design, construct, and sell homes. The homebuilding automation platform helps create 3D, permit-ready construction documents for different sorts of construction projects. The team closed a $21 million Series A in the spring of 2021 that Hypepotamus covered here.
4. BRANCH TECHNOLOGY (Chattanooga, Tennessee)
Who says all the structures around us have to be made out of wood, brick, and concrete? Chattanooga’s Branch Technology is pushing the boundaries of what architects can create with. The 3D printing and fabrication construction technology startup has landed some impressive structural projects across the country and is backed by investors like Missouri-based Takeoff Capital, New York-based MetaProp, and Launch Tennessee.
5. NewCrew (Atlanta, Georgia)
It is one thing to have construction technology. It is quite another to ensure there is another staff at a construction site to get a job done. Atlanta-based NewCrew, a construction-focused recruiting company, helps teams fill the important roles ranging from engineers to product managers.
6. LEVELSET (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Levelset’s acquisition by construction giant Procure in a $500 million deal was one of the big stories in the Southeast startup world in 2021, showcasing just how lucrative the world of construction technology can be. The New Orleans-based company has made a name for itself helping contractors get paid faster and more efficiently.
7. PAINTJET (Hendersonville, Tennessee)
Based just outside of Nashville, PaintJet is a robotics and material sciences company that got off the ground in 2019 to transform how we paint commercial construction buildings. In December 2023, the team closed a $10 million Series A round from investment firms across the country. One of the VCs backing the company is Chattanooga-based Dynamo.