PermitFlow raises $31 million to speed up building permit process in the US
The Californian startup PermitFlow has just raised $31 million in Series A funding led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation also from Initialized Capital, Y Combinator, Felicis Ventures and Altos Ventures, as well as several business angels. The financing comes just over a year after it raised $5.5 million in seed funding led by Initialized Capital.
Founded in 2021, the Milpitas-based startup aims to make it easier for builders and homeowners to obtain building permits, by automating the somewhat tedious and over-complicated process. One of PermitFlow’s goals is to make housing more affordable by helping to shorten the time it takes to get permits for a new build.
These new funds will enable PermitFlow to expand its business across other American states, as it currently operates in California, Florida and Texas, where it has helped permit 5,000 units of housing. It will also use the funds to develop its R&D, to integrate more LLMs (Large Language Models) into its tools to help make the process easier for its users.
San Francisco-based Zacua Ventures launches new construction tech fund
San Francisco-based venture capital firm Zacua Ventures has just launched its $56 million fund targeting early-stage construction tech startups. This new fund is backed by 19 of the construction sector’s biggest names, including Procore, Volvo Group and Cemex.
Zacua Ventures wants to use the fund to help startups operating in various domains in the construction sector and for building cities of the future, such as artificial intelligence, modular construction, low-carbon economy, CSR, IoT and robotics. Among its portfolio of early investments is Construex, an Ecuador-based marketplace for the construction and design industries, as well as Flexnode, a data infrastructure startup.
With regional partners already present in Spain, Mexico and Singapour, the firm has already invested in more than a dozen startups in the global construction tech ecosystem.
US startup Conservation Labs raises $7.5 million to detect leaky water distribution systems
Conservation Labs, a startup that has developed a water-listening sensor to detect leaky plumbing in residential and office properties, has just raised $7.5 million in Series A funding led by RET Ventures and Sustain VC.
Based in Pittsburgh, Penesylvania, the company has developed H2know, a sensor that translates sounds from pipes into usage statistics, leak alerts and even water conservation recommendations. The technology currently retails at $129, with an $39 annual subscription fee. With a customer base of around 150 businesses, users are said to see a 20% reduction in water usage
Thanks to this funding round, Conservations Labs is looking to launch a second generation sensor, to improve its AI algorithms and invest more in marketing. To achieve all this, it intends to expand its team to 30 people by the end of 2024.
There’s more…
- Indian-based virtual reality construction startup AutoVRse raises $2 million – Read more at Economic Time
- US startup Higharc raises $53 million for its cloud-based construction site management solution – Read more at Builder Online
- Israeli startup Exodigo raises $105 million for its underground mapping solution – Read more at Bloomberg
