Modulous announced on Monday its plans to expand to the US and open an office in the Seattle region.
Four former Katerra executives – Janet Stephenson, Kassandra Mast, Eva Talbot, and Jennifer Caldwell – will lead the expansion.
Commenting on the move, Chris Bone, Modulous’ co-founder and chief executive, said: “With a nationwide shortage of more than five million homes, there has never been a greater need to accelerate housing development in the US.
“What makes Modulous unique is our asset-light approach – avoiding capital-intensive factories we instead focus on empowering developers, architects, and contractors with the information, products, and processes to do their jobs better.
“We give them real-time access to the data, building components, and service providers they need to develop high-quality housing at the speed and scale that society requires.”
Overseeing the US expansion as regional manager is Janet Stephenson, former head of building platform sales at Katerra and an AEC business development professional with over 23 years experience.
Stephenson said: “I am pleased to join the Modulous team because I see a unique opportunity to leverage our technology and world-class supplier network to break the logjam in US housing production.
“Rather than introducing another construction input that cannot scale, we will use our platform to align incentives in the ecosystem, accelerate sustainable development, and reduce the pricing pressure on homeowners and renters.”
Stephenson is joined by operations director, Kassandra Mast; product director and architect, Eva Talbot; and design director and architect, Jennifer Caldwell.
Commenting on the US team, Bone added: “We are absolutely delighted that Janet and her team have chosen to join Modulous.
“They are very talented and extremely experienced professionals who will help us land and expand in the U.S. market -we couldn’t have a better team of people at the wheel.”
More from Modulous:
- Modulous appoints ex-Microsoft and Deloitte talent as head of Finance
- Modulous further expands ‘world-class’ team with new head of Building Technology
- Digital housebuilder Modulous appoints new CTO and design director
Venture capital support
The move came after Modulous successfully raised £5m from venture capital firm Blackhorn Ventures as well as Cemex Ventures, GroundBreak Ventures, Goldacre, and the UK government’s Future Fund.
Ray Levitt, of lead investors Blackhorn Ventures, said: “Modulous is exactly the kind of offsite construction firm that fits Blackhorn’s thesis for this built environment sub-sector.
“They own the customers – large public or private developers of affordable housing – and they operate as modular designers and digital supply chain integrators, while outsourcing manufacturing assembly and installation.
“This allows Modulous to be highly capital-efficient, profitable, and resilient to industry cycles – expanding into the US is the logical next step.”
Mateo Zimmermann, investment manager at Cemex Ventures, said: “Modulous does not require additional capex, which makes it globally scalable, so I am delighted to see it expand into the U.S. market.
“People need more homes, and this team is going to revolutionize the residential development industry.”
Ewan Alexander, global vice president of consumer logistics at Crane Worldwide Logistics, added: “We’re pleased to partner with Modulous to support their highly efficient offsite construction business model.
“The modular sector faces criticism for the transport of single units over long distances, but Modulous enables a different approach, transporting flat-packed ‘Kits of Parts’ from regional suppliers to local assembly points.
“We’re working with the technology team at Modulous to seamlessly integrate the full logistics journey into their software platform and admire their global vision to transform construction industry norms.”
Main Image: From left, Katerra veterans Janet Stephenson, now Modulous’ US regional managing director; its operations director Kassandra Mast; product director Eva Talbot; and design director Jennifer Caldwell (Credit: Modulous)
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