Cascade, a startup constructing a platform to assist structure, engineering, and building companies discover and win initiatives, has raised a $3.5 million seed spherical from Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun, Ada Ventures, and Snowball VC.
Launched in 2025, Cascade is a results of its founders, Hannia Zia and Joana Ferreira, witnessing firsthand the problem building companies face with predictably securing work.
“My mom labored in an organization that offered supplies to building firms, and my uncle constructed mansions within the Center East. They’re unbelievable at their craft however simply don’t have entry to the best instruments to get extra work,” Ferreira instructed TechCrunch. And Zia recalled the time her father tried beginning a building enterprise again in her native Pakistan: “He simply couldn’t get sufficient initiatives to maintain himself.”
Zia describes the present technique of discovering building initiatives as a “fixed treasure hunt,” with companies having to log into every U.S. state, metropolis, district, county, and federal company’s portals. “So in the event you’re actually good at constructing suspension bridges, it’s important to discover all of these alternatives throughout these disparate portals.”
Cascade goals to assist structure, building, and engineering companies on this entrance by monitoring ongoing and upcoming initiatives, after which utilizing prior tender information to foretell which builders are more likely to win the offers.
Right here’s how the platform works: An organization indicators as much as the platform, after which Cascade makes use of AI instruments to find out which initiatives they’ve the most effective probability of successful. It additionally predicts what initiatives are developing, utilizing totally different alerts and information factors throughout U.S. states, native districts, non-public contracts, and federal businesses. For instance, if a state declares a $100 million inexpensive housing grant, Cascade will monitor which builders received the grant the final time it was introduced.
“We join that information, and we inform our clients: ‘Almost certainly certainly one of these 5 builders will win this newly introduced grant, so go begin speaking to them to win initiatives,’” Ferreira defined.
The duo utilized to a16z’s Speedrun final September. They mentioned the stress to do nicely on demo day and being across the “brilliance” of different founders helped the corporate signal contracts with companies which have constructed the JFK and La Guardia airports, 4 Seasons resorts, and a few information facilities. “Speedrun gave us visibility and a stamp of approval to shut huge offers,” Zia mentioned.
The startup will use the recent money to go to market, host trade occasions, and rent extra engineers.
Different startups on this space embrace GovWin IQ and ConstructConnect, however Ferreira argues Cascade is a little more AI-native than these platforms.
“Each time a buyer wins a bid, they offer suggestions, so the system retains getting smarter. Over time, we’ll have an entire map of the trade that our AI can traverse to foretell the most effective initiatives and leads for every buyer,” she mentioned.
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