We are excited to share that Mayra Arntz has been promoted to principal. Since joining Building Ventures in 2022, Mayra has proven her dedication to supporting our portfolio companies and her commitment to advancing innovation across the built environment. We are confident that in her new role, she will continue to shape the future of our portfolio and drive meaningful change in the construction industry.
Building a foundation in construction technology
Mayra has shared that her passion for construction developed early. As a child, she joined her father at his construction company’s jobsites, and when she was older, she spent summers working with the team. While studying engineering in college, Mayra began exploring productivity and innovation in construction—and this is where Mayra knew she could make the biggest impact on the industry.
Mayra Soto at the AI Adoption in Construction panel hosted by Parspec at WeWork for San Francisco Tech Week 2024.
Before joining our team at Building Ventures, Mayra built her career at the intersection of construction operations and emerging technology. In addition to hands-on project controls on major construction sites, Mayra was responsible for strategic work at Stanley X and scaling contech solutions at HoloBuilder. Her construction experience includes boots on the ground at jobsites, the pressure-tested workflows of field teams, the realities of enterprise procurement, and the urgency of growth inside a venture-backed startup.
With her background, Mayra has an exceptional ability to spot early-stage innovation. Even more critically, she has a nuanced perspective on where the most urgent problems lie, what solutions are realistically deployable in the field, and how quickly new technologies can be adopted within the complex industry. This combination of operational depth, entrepreneurial instinct, and thoughtful discernment has made Mayra essential to our team here at Building Ventures.
Championing a better built world
Since joining Building Ventures, Mayra has been instrumental in supporting our portfolio companies, partnering with our general contractors, and sharing our mission with the broader industry. Mayra is a regular speaker at BuiltWorlds, an active member of Women in Construction Tech, and she has partnered with SF Tech Week to host events focused on the environmental impact of our built environment.
Over the last three years, Mayra has worked closely with portfolio companies, including advising teams on developing a product strategy and managing pilots with our general contractor partners, members of the Building Ventures Innovators Network, or BVIN. She has especially supported our contech portfolio companies, including our recently announced portfolio company BuildFactory, the AI-driven marketplace for prefab solutions.
Whether you’ve worked with Mayra extensively or chatted with her briefly at a conference, I’m sure you know that she is particularly passionate about the adoption of AI in construction. Earlier this year, Mayra spearheaded AI in Action, an event for the BVIN exploring AI in our growth-stage contech companies. This event is a perfect example of Mayra’s approach to her work. Mayra strives for professional excellence and pursues all of her challenges with intellectual curiosity. But perhaps more importantly, she values collaboration and encourages engagement whenever possible, whether it involves spending months planning an event for the members of the BVIN or sending a quick email connecting a portfolio company with the perfect candidate for their open role.
The Building Ventures team at the BVIN Fall Summit 2024 in New York City. From left to right, Travis Connors, Jesse Devitte, Mayra Arntz, Allen Preger, Heather Widman, and Lucas Turner-Owens.
At Building Ventures, our mission is to create a better built world. We are glad that Mayra is a part of our mission, especially now in her new role. As principal, Mayra will continue to strengthen relationships with our strategic investors, work closely alongside our contech portfolio companies, and evaluate new deals for Building Ventures. If you’re leveraging technology to improve the way we design, construct, operate, or experience our built world, you can share your startup with Mayra and the team.
