Built Technologies, a Nashville, Tennessee-based fintech start-up, has just raised $125 million to expand its services within the construction finance industry. The company, which specializes in construction loan underwriting and management software for major lenders, has grown to tremendous heights since first being founded in 2015 and is now valued at $1.5 billion after this latest series of funding.
Over the past six years, Built has helped manage and organize over $135 billion in construction value for lenders for over 200,000 commercial, homebuilder, land development, and consumer residential projects. And this new round of funding means it can do even more.
Building up and building out
The Series D funding was led by investor TCV, with additional participation from venture firms Brookfield Technology Partners, 9Yards Capital, XYZ Venture Capital, and HighSage Ventures. The money raised will help expand the company’s team, as well as increase its products for its financial partners, which right now is mainly the digitization of debt and equity funding for real estate construction.
Additionally, the company plans to expand its current product offerings, offering new software solutions for homebuilders and contractors, such as compliance tracking, AP/AR automation tools, payment management, and insurance services.
Leading the way for real estate construction
In 2021, the construction industry has spent $1.58 trillion through August. While construction is a massive industry, it generally has been notoriously slow to adapt to technological advancements. The pandemic has undeniably helped fast-forward the real estate industry, including finance and construction, into the 21st century with things like digital closings, virtual notaries, electronic signatures, and digitized closing and project management systems, but there’s still a huge market share that isn’t being served.
That’s why start-ups like Built Technologies, among other start-ups like Avvir and Workrise, are receiving major financial backing to help expand, grow, and innovate. Construction companies in particular have been battling supply chain interruptions, rising inflation, and labor shortages, all of which impact its bottom line and project timeline. This also makes it challenging for financial institutions to monitor the projects or underwrite potential projects.
The Millionacres bottom line
Built can’t remove the hurdles in the economy today, but its systems can certainly improve the process of managing and monitoring these issues across the construction industry. Big-name banks, including Live Oak, Regions, and U.S. Bank, have partnered with Built Technologies to improve their lending systems in this field, and it’s likely others will continue to follow suit as long as the company continues to find ways to better serve the industry’s needs.
Right now, Built Technologies is a private company, meaning investors aren’t able to participate or invest in it directly. There’s been no indication of going public quite yet, but considering its achievements thus far, it’s not out of the question for the future.
source: millionacres
