Work & Mother | Parspec | Welcoming Lucas
If you’re receiving this newsletter, you’ve probably heard us reference the Building Ventures mission at least once: We’re all vocal about working to create a better built world. That’s why we’re backing the entrepreneurs who are innovating the way we design, build, operate, and experience our buildings. After all, humans spend most of our time indoors—and even if some of us might be venturing outside enjoy the beautiful spring temperatures in New England this month, our overall time inside will only increase in the future.
We state this higher-order mission often because we take this pursuit seriously. We look to our mission to anchor our investment theses, guide our evaluation of the construction and real estate technology markets, and point to the directions we still need to focus on. Our team firmly believes there are an endless number of breakthrough innovations on the horizon, to be enabled by new technology and catalyzed by the world’s brightest entrepreneurs. Our aim is to identify the entrepreneurs with the best ideas and empower them to deliver the technology and engender the industry-wide changes essential to improving our built environment.
But what does that better built world actually look like, really? How exactly is it designed and constructed? How will these better residences, offices, and more improve our lives? We’re launching a series of articles to share the definitions we use when we’re looking towards this better future. We will explore precisely how a better built environment is sustainable, resilient, and equitable, and we will outline the shifts in technology and industry that we need to realize this improved future for us all. We’re getting started with Allen Preger’s take on the design process for a better built world, which we’re excited to share with you soon.
In the meantime, we have lots of team event updates and portfolio company news to share, including our recent investments in Work & Mother and Parspec. Take a look below!
– The BV Team
Investment Updates
Our Investment in Parspec
Parspec announced its $11.5 million seed round last month, and we’re thrilled to share the news. Read more about our investment rationale here.
Our Investment in Work & Mother
We’re excited to announce our investment in Work & Mother, which launched its first NYC lactation suite on International Women’s Day. Read more about the company’s mission and the round here.
Portfolio News & Activity
In the media
Metropolis profiled both Canoa and Hypar in a feature on design startups using AI. Read the piece here. ✍️
🏆 75F received a 2024 Impact 100 award, an honor recognizes the most impactful companies to work for. Learn more here.
♻️ Measurabl’s Matt Ellis joined the Tangent podcast to talk about ESG data for real estate, defining success for CRE sustainability, and more. Listen here.
🤖 Built Robotics earned a spot on Andreesen Horowitz’s American Dynamism 50, a list of AI startups advancing national interest with their mission. Check out the list here.
Dandelion Energy’s Kathy Hannun spoke with LMRE for the Mission Possible: Climate Tech interview series about geothermal, climate tech, and stealing some Valentine’s Day candy. See that here. 🏡
👏 Built In recognized Mezo as a Best Place to Work in 2024. Read more here.
enVerid CEO Christian Weeks joined the Building Healthy Podcast. Listen here. 🎧
🖥️ Join Digital released an industry report on network-as-a-service, or NAAS, and the model’s growing popularity with enterprise businesses. Take a look here.
🐘 ⚡️Elephant Energy announced a partnership with Walden Mutual. Find more details here.
Construction Dive spoke to Skillit’s Fraser Patterson about how screening for skill impacts hiring and retention in construction. Read to piece here. 👷♀️
On the move
🌎 Aeroseal, 75F, and enVerid attended AHR Expo earlier this year.
Hypar’s Ian Keough recently spoke at AIA Los Angeles. 🎤
🏗️ Later this spring, Join.build’s solutions engineer Vin Caruso will be speaking about preconstruction at the BuiltWorlds Buildings Conference. Learn more here.
New products and more
🛠️ Clearstory shared its latest customer profile: a feature on Mortenson. Take a look.
The UpCodes team has been busy this year! They’ve updated 9,207 code sections, launched custom project templates, and more. Check out highlights here. 🤖
Mosaic celebrated breaking ground a new project. See more here. 🏘️ 👏
Our portfolio companies are looking for systems engineers, designers, and more. Check out the 60+ open roles here. 👀
BVIN News
BVIN Webinar: Work & Mother
In the meantime, we’re hearing from Work & Mother founder and CEO Abbey Donnell later this month. BVIN members can watch the recording.
BV Updates
Welcome, Lucas Turner-Owens! 👏
Lucas joined the BV as principal in January, and it’s hard to believe he’s only been on the team for a few weeks. Lucas shared his motivation for joining our mission to create a better built world, his excitement and more with Heather. Read their conversation here.
Travis recently announced that Building Ventures joined the new CREtech Climate Venture Coalition as a founding member. This is a collaboration of the leading VCs in the built world working together to accelerate investments in climate tech startups who are decarbonizing the built world.
For the CREtech Climate Venture Coalition, Heather joined Managing Partner & Founder at Pi Labs Faisal Butt and Senior Associate at JLL Spark Daniel Correa in a conversation moderated by CREtech CEO Michael Beckerman. You can watch the replay here.
In April, Heather will be moderating a panel on sustainability in multi-family properties at RETCON. If you’re planning to attend, you can use Building Ventures to get a 25% discount here.
Jesse is contributing to the Royal Institute of British Architects Horizons 2034 report exploring trends shaping the future of society, the built environment, and the architectural profession. BVIN member Phil Bernstein is the editor of the built environment section, and Jesse’s article in this section will explore innovation strategy. We’ll share once the series is published!
Next month, Allen will be a Demo Day judge at BuiltWorlds Venture West.
This semester, Lucas will be a mentor for MIT’s DesignX program and for the real estate technology track of the Babson MIINT competition.
Building Ventures invests in companies that are reshaping the way we design, build, operate and experience our built environment. Do you know a founder we simply have to meet? Send them here!
