A British start-up that has developed a platform to enable high-speed design and delivery of affordable housing on a global basis has received £5m of investment.
Modulous – which uses big data to inform developers what they can build with and provides specific information about how much time and money a development will take – received the backing from three venture capital firms.
Blackhorn Ventures, Cemex Ventures, and GroundBreak Ventures have provided the funding to help the company expand its building design team and grow its technology group.
The deal represents the second rounds of investment from Blackhorn Ventures and Cemex Ventures.
Modulous is an asset-light business that owns no factories, instead utilising its global supply chain and investment in logistics to enable it to become “more scalable and more responsive to the cyclical nature of housebuilding”.
It links to a curated supply chain that delivers the modular buildings ready for assembly (from Modulous’s own kit of parts), using just-in-time logistics to minimise contractors’ costs.
‘Solves multiple problems plaguing the industry’
Chris Bone, CEO of Modulous, said: “Our digitally-led approach to project management and innovative kit of parts platform delivers sustainable, high-quality housing at a fraction of the time of traditional construction.
“As the costs of materials rise and profit margins are continually squeezed, Modulous provides partners with the end-to-end tools necessary to accurately estimate project costs, compress programme timescales, and mitigate against the risks inherent in planning, design, and implementation.
“It’s a system that solves multiple problems plaguing the industry for decades, while engaging flexible, net zero-ready technologies that allow our partners to realise high-speed assembly and installation.”
Phillip O’Connor, managing partner and co-founder at Blackhorn Ventures, added: “This is about far more than modular housing.
“The opportunity here with the suite of products Modulous is developing is to create a standard akin to Pro Tools, which can orchestrate and produce all elements of the housing process.
“And their capital-efficient, outsourced manufacturing business model allows Modulous to weather fluctuations in demand that characterise construction in contrast to capital-heavy, vertically integrated modular housing developers.”
Image credit: Archi_Viz/Shutterstock
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