Barcelona, July 8, 2022 – 011h, the new-generation building platform, has successfully raised €25m in Series A funding. The round was led by Redalpine, accompanied by Seaya Andromeda and Breega, with the participation of Aldea Ventures among others. Previous investors are also joining the round, including Giuseppe Zocco, Foundamental and A/O Proptech, which accelerates 011h’s ambition to create a sustainably-built world.
The funding will be used to further develop 011h’s digital platform and building system, as well as grow its team and strengthen its network of partners. Initially, 011h will focus on projects in its home market of Spain. It will then pursue its goal of becoming a leading building platform in Europe, and ultimately an open platform with global reach.
Lucas Carné , Co-Founder and Co-CEO of 011h, says “If urban growth continues at its current pace around the world, then construction the size of New York City would occur every month for the next 40 years. This is unsustainable – the built environment is highly unproductive and is a massive generator of CO2 emissions – and this is what we are on a mission to change. This funding means we can continue to transform the construction sector.”
Currently, the building process uses artisan methods based on manual labor, which is becoming increasingly scarce; and uses unsustainable materials like concrete and steel. The consequence is that residential construction has become expensive, unreliable, and difficult to scale. This is important: the built environment is at the center of the climate crisis — buildings are responsible for around 40% of global CO2e emissions[1].
011h changes this by standardizing and digitalizing the building process to make it repeatable and scalable, while incorporating sustainable and circular principles and materials – like mass timber – and preserving design flexibility. This enables architects, general contractors, real estate developers and investors to design, build and manage better-quality net-zero buildings in a faster, more reliable and cost efficient way.
011h has successfully delivered a major project with Renta Corporación, a publicly-traded developer. The embodied carbon of the building was reduced by more than 90% compared to conventional methods and, additionally, construction timelines have been reduced by 35%. This has clearly impressed residential developers in Spain, as three major projects have been booked to start in the coming months.
The company’s superpower in making this happen is the digital DNA of its founding team, which comprises tech serial senior entrepreneurs that have led some of Europe’s most successful digital ventures, including Privalia, Lyst and SocialPoint.
Jose Ojeda, co-founder and COO of 011h, says “We have already made so much progress in designing and building carbon neutral buildings and creating a sustainable world. It’s only 2022, and yet we are already way ahead of the 2030 European decarbonization goals and close to the net zero target for 2050. This funding means that we can accelerate our mission and develop our platform in order to bring reliable, scalable and cost-competitive construction to more people.”
Harald Nieder, General Partner of Redalpine, says “At Redalpine, we believe that there are massive opportunities around sustainability. In fact, the opportunities are such that we are not looking for marginal improvements of the status quo. We are looking for teams that are aiming to have a real impact, worthy of the global challenges we are facing. Construction is both one of the most unsustainable industries and one of the least digital and the 011h vision is exactly what we were looking to support. With a super strong track record and digital expertise, the team is rethinking the construction industry from the ground up, implementing efficient and scalable building processes, end-to-end across a highly data-driven and sustainable supply chain. We are incredibly excited to be on this journey together.”
Patric Hellermann, General Partner of Foundamental, says, “Since Day 0, we have been impressed with the team’s drive to change the construction industry, and we are excited to continue partnering with 011h to build the leading multi-family construction platform in Europe. The ongoing EU plans to decarbonize Europe’s building stock – while ambitious – require technology to achieve our ambitions. 011h will spearhead that decarbonization, precisely because it is becoming a truly scalable net-zero building platform.”
Beatriz Gonzalez, Founding Partner of Seaya, says, “This investment reinforces Seaya Andromeda’s commitment to addressing the global sustainability challenges through technology, and our continued support to outstanding and mission-driven founders that target long-term, sustainable growth.”
Ben Marrel, Co-founder and CEO at Breega concludes: “With their outstanding innovation, drive and commitment to the future of our planet, the 011h team are pioneers helping to rebuild the construction industry. Transforming traditional practices and encouraging industry actors to join them in paving the way to a more efficient, greener, and more sustainable future. Breega is very proud to be backing 011h in this landmark series A round.”
About 011h:
011h is a new-generation building platform with a mission to accelerate the transition to a sustainable built environment. The company will contribute to mitigate two of humanity’s most pressing challenges: climate change and shortage of affordable living. Process industrialization and the use of sustainable and circular principles and materials will drive this transformation, enabling net zero buildings, in shorter and reliable timescales, cost competitive and at a scale. 011h relies on its super-power to make it happen: digital technology.
