Building Ventures to be led by Built Environment Veteran Jesse Devitte and Travis Connors
Building Ventures, an early-stage investor committed to innovation in the built world, today announced its official launch. The new initiative is co-founded by the leaders of Borealis Ventures built environment investment team, Jesse Devitte and Travis Connors. Since Borealis’ founding, the team has been the most prolific early investor in the built world space with over 20 investments and 10 successful exits in its history. With offices in Boston and San Francisco, Building Ventures will focus on funding breakthrough companies that will propel the built environment forward to a better, more sustainable future.
Building Ventures was formed to fund and grow solutions for the reality that the world’s increasing urban population, projected to grow by 2.5 billion people by 2050,will require nothing short of a revolution in how we design, build, operate and experience the built world. The technologies and methodologies utilized today will not scale to deliver a sustainable built world in which 10 billion people can thrive. As a result, the past few years have witnessed a rapid increase in investment in the construction and real estate tech markets, the two foundational elements of the built environment.
“Borealis has found success by specializing on our strengths in healthcare and built environment investing. With the rapid growth in the built environment market, it was a natural evolution for us to create Building Ventures with a laser focus on the built environment,” said Phil Ferneau, Borealis Ventures Managing Director and Co-founder. “The team’s expertise, reach, and track record in the built world will ensure that Building Ventures quickly becomes an industry force.”
“Today’s launch is a culmination of our three decades of combined experience in the built environment space,” said Jesse Devitte Co-founder and General Partner, Building Ventures. “Travis and I recognized the perfect fusion of opportunity and timing with the industrialization of construction, the deployment of space as a service and the promise of smart buildings to deliver a better built world. Building Ventures’ mission is to solely focus on funding disruptive ideas in the built environment to help create a better world.”
“We are only at the beginning phase of seeing builders and owners tap into the transformational power of technology to operate more efficiently, effectively, productively and sustainably,” said Travis Connors, Co-Founder and General Partner, Building Ventures. By investing and mentoring built technology startups, Building Ventures seeks to enable these companies to scale rapidly and confidently, capitalize on the industry’s potential and help make the potential future of the built world a reality.
Over the past year, the team has accelerated its investment pace with five investments and one successful exit. These include Smartvid.io (AI for Construction), Blokable (Affordable Housing Development as a Service), Measurabl (Commercial Real Estate Sustainability Platform), Dandelion Energy (Residential Geothermal Heating/Cooling as a Service) and Assemble Systems (BIM Construction Software). Assemble Systems was acquired by Autodesk in July as a cornerstone of its initiative to digitize the construction industry. In the coming months, Building Ventures will continue to build out its team and identify new investment opportunities.
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