What happens when venture funds take to the stage to pitch themselves to startups instead of the other way around? We're flipping the script at this year's BuiltWorlds Venture East, happening November 19-20, 2025 in Boston, Mass., giving four venture and corporate venture capitalists the spotlight to present their platforms, share their investment theses, highlight portfolio successes, and outline the unique advantages they offer as partners.
Conference attendees will learn firsthand what sets each fund apart, how their support for startups extends beyond capital, and how their visions for the future shape their invesment strategies. This "reverse pitch" panel offers startups unprecedented insight into what today's top investors bring to the table, helping founders make more informed decisions about their funding partners and goals. In preparation for this exciting session, we're sharing a helpful preview of our venture speakers, their backgrounds, and exclusive BuiltWorlds insights on their funds.
Vivin Hegde
Zacua ventures
Vivin Hegde is the founding and managing partner at Zacua Ventures, a global venture capital firm dedicated to transforming the built environment. With over 20 years of global experience at the intersection of construction, technology, and innovation, Vivin is a leading voice in advancing AI, robotics, and industrial digitization across the construction ecosystem.
Prior to Zacua, he held senior leadership roles at Hilti, where he launched its North American corporate venture arm and led the Hilti-Trimble joint venture focused on emerging technologies like robotics, IoT, and AR/VR. He began his career at McKinsey & Company, advising Fortune 500 firms on growth, strategy, and operations across multiple continents.
Vivin sits on several advisory boards, partners with startups and corporates globally, and is deeply committed to shaping the future of the built world. He holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from NITK Surathkal and an MBA from IIM Calcutta.
BUILTWORLDS INSIGHTS: ZACUA VENTURES
Zacua Ventures is a global early-stage venture fund established in 2022 dedicated to addressing major challenges in the built environment, especially within the themes of sustainability, productivity, and urbanization. The fund is focused on supporting visionary entrepreneurs and startups that aim to redefine construction and the future of cities by developing and deploying innovative technologies throughout the construction value chain. Zacua Ventures brings its network, resources, and expertise to help these companies scale globally and make a broad impact in enhancing efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, and promoting smart, resilient urban growth. The group is currently deploying out of the second fund and manage over $100m in AUM, which allows Zacua Ventures to back companies with bold solutions and support the journey from inception through expansion, reflecting the fund's mission to adapt the built world for future generations.
David Friedman
MetaProp
David Friedman is a partner at MetaProp where he leads the firm's Growth PE investing. Before becoming an investor, David spent 20 years as a founder and CEO. David founded Boston Logic, later known as Property Base, a SaaS software provider which was sold to PSG, acquired several tuck-ins, and was later sold to Stone Point Capital. David later founded Knox Financial, which was acquired by Doorstead. David is a father of three and an avid skier, cyclist, and hiker.
BUILTWORLDS INSIGHTS: METAPROP
MetaProp is a New York-based venture capital firm investing in early and growth-stage companies at the intersection of technology and the built world. Since 2015, MetaProp has backed 100+ startups across four fund vintages, each of which is performing in the top quartile.
With deep customer connectivity, MetaProp backs innovations that finance, insure, design, manage, measure, build, and power the world’s largest asset class. MetaProp’s brand, network, and team give access to the best early-stage founders and the flexibility to back them before others recognize their brilliance, or later in their company building journeys.
MetaProp is actively investing out of its fourth seed fund (~$100M) and its inaugural growth vehicle. MetaProp is trusted by LPs including CDPQ, the City of New York, DBJ, and PGIM to discover and support breakout innovations and deliver market-beating returns.
Kurt Ramirez
Nine Four Ventures
Kurt Ramirez is a co-founder and general partner at Nine Four Ventures. Kurt has been active in the PropTech space since 2015, and has invested in startups across a number of built world industries. Prior to founding Nine Four, Kurt was a consultant at Bain & Company, an investor at Cue Ball Capital, a venture capital firm focused on consumer and information media investments, and Greenfield Partners, a real estate private equity firm.
He received an MBA from Harvard Business School and BS/BA degrees from Vanderbilt University.
BUILTWORLDS INSIGHTS: NINE FOUR VENTURES
Nine Four Ventures is a Chicago-based, early-stage PropTech investor founded in 2018. The firm targets startups developing technologies that impact the people, processes, and ecosystems interacting with the built world, spanning all real estate asset classes and adjacent industries such as insurance, home and commercial services, and finance. Nine Four Ventures has support from institutional real estate owners and operators to deliver capital and access to a broad network, operational expertise, and real-world properties where companies can refine and scale their products. In addition to funding, the firm’s collaborative and hands-on approach supports founders through the commercialization process.
Eric Lamb
Blackhorn Ventures
Eric Lamb is an operating partner in the Blackhorn Ventures and an LP in Building Ventures. He has had a 40-year career in building construction, studying civil engineering at the University of Virginia before his passion for building steered him towards a Master’s degree in Construction Management at Stanford University. During his career in construction and engineering, he has combined the best of both worlds. Eric has been instrumental in setting up preconstruction processes and operation systems that continue to serve as a foundation for DPR Construction today. A founding member of DPR's Management Committee, he now serves on the Board of Directors. In addition, he is managing director of WND Ventures, a CVC firm for DPR.
BUILTWORLDS INSIGHTS: BLACKHORN VENTURES
Blackhorn Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2017 that focuses on driving operational efficiency and decarbonization within critical industrial sectors—most notably, construction technology. The firm backs startups aiming to enable digital transformation across the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries, prioritizing enterprise software, AI, and asset-light solutions that increase productivity, streamline workflows, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on job sites and across project delivery. Blackhorn leverages industry expertise and an active network of corporate partners to help founders deploy and scale construction technologies such as project management automation, simulation and optioneering platforms, prefabrication, and energy-efficient retrofit solutions.
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