Oakland-based Mighty Buildings, which is on a quest to build homes using 3D printing, robotics and automation, has raised a $22 million extension to its Series B round of funding.
The additional capital builds upon a $40 million raise the company announced earlier this year, bringing its total funding since its 2017 inception to $100 million.
Mighty Building’s self-proclaimed mission is to create “beautiful, sustainable and affordable” homes.
The company claims to be able to 3D print structures “two times as quickly with 95% less labor hours and 10-times less waste” than conventional construction. For example, it says it can 3D print a 350-square-foot studio apartment in just 24 hours.
Execs say the new capital will go toward making supply chain improvements and moving up research and development timelines. The money will also go toward helping it achieve a new goal of achieving Net-Zero carbon neutrality by 2028 — which it says is 22 years ahead of the construction industry overall.
“As a founding team, we have long been passionate about solving productivity for construction in a sustainable way,” said co-founder and CEO Slava Solonitsyn. “We have spent four years figuring out what it takes to achieve that. We believe that we have a master plan now that can work.”
Since its launch, the company has produced and installed a number of accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
Sam Ruben, co-founder and chief sustainability officer of Mighty Buildings, said the new funds will also go toward kicking off development of the startup’s multistory offering. The multistory efforts will likely initially focus on two to three-story single family homes and townhouses with an eye toward expanding into low-rise apartment buildings. The company hopes to have at least a prototype multistory offering in late 2022 or early 2023, according to Ruben.
“Along with the sustainability improvements already captured by our new formula, this will allow us to develop our next-generation material to get us even closer to our goal of being carbon neutral by 2028,” Ruben said. “It will also give us opportunities to implement improvements in our existing design by reducing the impact of our foundations and other, nonprinted elements.”
Specifically, Mighty Buildings plans to speed up its carbon neutrality roadmap by building “high-throughput, sustainable” micro factories, forming strategic supply chain partnerships, accelerating “blue skies” technology research and developing new composite materials produced from recycled or bio-based feedstock.
The micro factories, according to the company, will be able to produce 200 to 300 homes per year in locations where housing gaps exist. Mighty Buildings plans to create single-family residential developments with its panelized “Mighty Kit System.”
Mighty Buildings has seen quarter over quarter growth in sales, Ruben said, with the company seeing a record of over $7 million in total contracted revenue in the second quarter.
The company is also excited about its new fiber-reinforced printing material, which is currently undergoing testing with certification expected to be completed later this year. Mighty Buildings claims that its new formula shows “over 50% improvement” in embodied carbon from its original material and a strength profile similar to reinforced concrete, with more than four times less weight.
The round extension was supported by a few new and existing investors including ArcTern Ventures, Core Innovation Capital, Decacorn Capital, Gaingels, Khosla Ventures, Klaff Realty, MicroVentures, Modern Venture Partners, Polyvalent Capital, Vibrato Capital and others.
