AROUND THE NETWORK: Building Ventures Launches $95 Million Fund II to Continue Driving Built Environment Innovation

BuiltWorlds member Building Ventures, an early-stage venture firm investing in entrepreneurs creating a better built world, recently announced the closing of its $95 million Fund II. The new capital will be used to invest in 18-20 seed to series A construction and real estate tech startups focused on improving every stage of the full building lifecycle.

General Partners Jesse Devitte and Travis Connors co-founded Building Ventures in 2017. Both experienced investors with ties to the industry, Connors and Devitte noticed the need for innovation in built environment technology and the opportunity to partner with industry entrepreneurs. “Real estate and construction are notoriously slow moving, change resistant industries,” said Devitte. “However, society has progressed to hold higher expectations for our built environments, from the quality and origin of materials used, to the overall environmental impact, from construction process to daily operation. We’re investing in the founders and technologies at every stage of the building cycle that are ultimately making spaces we use healthier, more practical and less wasteful.”

Since inception, Building Ventures has focused on funding companies in their “sapling” stage—typically seed or series A—when the startup is still early enough in its formative development that the team’s experience, expertise, and network can help it attract the best talent and the optimal early customers to help it grow and reach its potential. More than two-thirds of the capital currently under management at Building Ventures comes from LPs and strategic partners who are leading global general contracting firms, innovative builders, and design firms—the same people actively searching for improvements and solutions.

Over the last five years Building Ventures has funded 20 startups, including Dandelion (the nation’s leading geothermal company), Measurabl (the leading ESG platform for commercial real estate), Canoa (design platform enabling sustainable office design) and Join.build (decision-making platform for preconstruction). Fund II will double down on this focus, startups improving the full building lifecycle: design, build, operate, and experience.

Building Ventures’ team members are seasoned investors and startups operators with deep industry expertise, offering entrepreneurs valuable input and guidance from their personal experience and providing its portfolio access to their vast industry connections. Newly appointed Partner Heather Widman, a three-year veteran of the firm in her previous position as Principal, brings more than fifteen years of tech and startup operating leadership in roles covering product management, marketing, customer experience, and sales. Partner Allen Preger oversees Building Ventures Innovators Network (BVIN), a proprietary community of more than one hundred industry leaders committed to creating a better built world.

Travis Connors will be speaking this November at our Venture East Conference in Miami, FL. BuiltWorlds Venture Conference has been the world’s premier conference focused on venture investing in construction and built environment-related emerging technology. Leading fund investors, strategic investors, and startups gather each year to take the pulse of the industry’s startup ecosystem at the BuiltWorlds Venture Conference. Hope to see you there!