CostCertified raises $8.45 million for its residential construction budget simulator
Straight out of the Ycombinator accelerator, Canadian startup CostCertified has just raised $8.45 million in seed funding from FUSE, I2BF Global Ventures, Soma Capital and various business angels in the construction and proptech sector. Their ambition? To become nothing less than the “Amazon of construction”.
Until now, the founders of CostCertified have only laid the first stone of their project, with the launch of an automated construction cost calculation and quote generation tool, which changes in real time according to the options chosen by the clients. This calculator, which the founders have been working on since 2017, is designed to be easily used by the end customers, when most tools on the market are focused on professionals.
The startup has already hired a team of 25 people and plans to appoint 100 employees by 2022, thanks to the latest round of funding, which will also be used to improve the product, develop sales and accelerate the company’s growth.
Canada’s Trusscore, a specialist in PVC panels based on nanomaterials research, raises $21 million
The Canadian startup Trusscore, based in Ontario, has just raised $21 million in Series A. The company develops durable building materials as an alternative to conventional materials, thanks to the use of nanotechnology. One of its flagship products, TrusscoreWall&CeilingBoard, is a high-strength polymer drywall design that can be set up four times faster than traditional drywall, while being a more sustainable alternative.
Trusscore’s innovative approach has been backed up by Round13 Capital‘s Earth Tech Fund, which specialises in high impact ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) investments, and this is its first investment. Garage Capital, a venture capital fund, and a number of business angels are also involved in the round.
This is in addition to the $4 million already raised in 2020, and is intended to bolster the company’s R&D, while allowing it to expand production capabilities to meet growing demand.
European fund 2150 raises $312 million for its “Urban Sustainability Technology Fund”, aimed at reducing the environmental impact of cities
Based in London, Copenhagen and Berlin, the 2150 investment fund (not to be confused with the French fund 2050, also focused on impact investments) has just announced the closing of its financing round, to the tune of $312 million (268 million euros). It plans to invest in companies that transform and reshape urban environments through technology.
Investors include Credit Suisse, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, The BMW Foundation, the Danish Green Future Fund and Novo Holdings, as well as various family offices. 2150 was launched at the behest of NREP (Nordic Real Estate Partners), a Scandinavian property investor.
Before it closed, the fund had already made several investments, including CarbonCureTechnologies (carbon-free concrete manufacturers), Nodes& Links (an infrastructure project management tool), AmpdEnergy (makers of electric batteries for construction sites) and Normative (specialists in carbon footprint measurement).
#And also…
Australian ProcurePro, behind a SaaS solution for managing subcontractors in the construction industry, has raised $2.6 million – Startupdaily
In New Zealand, Aspiring Materials is raising $1 million to develop its extraction process, which converts olivine minerals into CO2-capturing powders, iron oxides and activated silica – Starupdaily
