Cascade raises USD $3.5 million for AI construction platform

Cascade has raised USD $3.5 million in seed funding in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun.

The New York-based startup sells an artificial intelligence platform for architecture, engineering and construction firms. It aims to help them identify projects before formal requests for proposals are issued and assess which pursuits are most likely to succeed.

Other investors included Ada Ventures, Blitzscaling Ventures, Indico Capital, shuckerVC, G2C Ventures and Snowball VC.

Founded by former Google executives Hannia Zia and Joana Ferreira, Cascade is targeting a part of the construction market where business development often depends on relationships, local knowledge and manual tracking of public documents and industry signals. Its customers have used the platform to surface more than USD $10 billion in project opportunities.

Its client list includes firms involved in work linked to JFK, LaGuardia, luxury hotels, data centres and nuclear facilities. Cascade gathers signals from sources including bond filings, permits, capital plans, property transactions, earnings transcripts, budget announcements and meeting minutes.

Founder background

The founders bring both technology and sector experience to the business. Zia and Ferreira met at UnlikelyAI, the company founded by the inventor of Amazon Alexa, where Zia was Vice President of Product and Ferreira led the AI platform team.

Both also have family ties to the construction sector, which shaped their interest in an industry that has been slower than others to adopt software for winning and tracking work. Ferreira grew up in a Portuguese town centred on construction and carpentry, while Zia has spoken about her father's unsuccessful attempt to start a construction business.

Cascade is focused on solving a commercial problem rather than a design or site management issue. According to the company, the platform scores opportunities for fit, detects early signs of project formation and identifies relationship paths through existing systems such as Outlook.

"Every firm we work with can point to a project they should have won but never even had a chance to see," said Hannia Zia, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cascade.

"Cascade is built around the bottom line: find the right work early, understand where you have a real advantage, and turn that into revenue delivered," Zia said.

Customer traction

Early customer growth came quickly, beginning with Munoz Engineering in New York and expanding through industry contacts. Customers cited by Cascade include architects, contractors and strategy teams that use the software to review plans, organise project information and identify new opportunities.

Tim Johannesson, a Principal at Smallwood, described the difficulty firms face in spotting bids at the right time.

"A project broke ground a few blocks away from me. I've been in the industry for 30 years, I didn't even know it was out for bid," said Tim Johannesson, Principal at Smallwood, the luxury architecture firm behind projects for the Four Seasons, the Ritz, Hyatt and many others.

"Cascade has now helped us respond to and win more projects, including a recent $6M project that I was only able to find through Cascade," Johannesson said.

Alan Ruth, a contractor executive in Florida, said the economics of one successful contract can outweigh the software's cost.

"Cascade has become a valuable partner in how we review plans, organize project information, and identify opportunities more efficiently. The platform continues to improve, and a single successful project can deliver a return that exceeds the cost for years. We are pleased to have adopted the technology early and to be helping shape how AI can be used in the construction industry," said Alan Ruth, President and CEO of S.A. Casey Construction, a Florida-based general contractor whose portfolio includes work at the Kia Centre, Orange County Government facilities and major private developments.

Investor view

Investors are betting that construction firms will spend more on tools tied directly to revenue generation. That pitch differs from many construction technology startups, which often focus on productivity, scheduling or site workflows.

"Construction is one of the largest markets in the world, and the way firms find and win work has barely changed in decades," said Marcus Segal, Investor at Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun.

"Cascade starts with a painful revenue problem. That is a powerful wedge into how construction work gets pursued, partnered on and delivered," Segal said.

Ferreira framed the product as applying data-driven prediction methods used in finance to the construction pipeline.

"Hedge funds look at a crazy amount of data to predict stock movements," said Joana Ferreira, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Cascade.

"We use the same logic to predict construction projects," Ferreira said.

The new funding will be used to expand adoption of the platform across the United States and deepen the network of firms using it. A larger customer base improves the system's recommendations and helps identify teaming opportunities between companies pursuing larger, multi-party projects, according to Cascade.

"Cascade helps us plan strategically ahead in the highly competitive AEC industry in NYC," said Syed Irfan Raza, CFO at Munoz Engineering, which worked on LGA, Moynihan Train Hall and Cuomo Bridge.

"The team delivers quickly, and they understand how this industry is built on relationships and trust," Raza said.