Cascade, an AI-powered pursuit platform for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, has secured $3.5 million in seed funding to help construction firms identify high-value projects before they reach the bidding stage, enabling companies to compete more effectively and win more contracts.
The investment round attracted backing from Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun, Ada Ventures, Blitzscaling Ventures, Indico Capital, shuckerVC, G2C Ventures and Snowball VC, positioning Cascade for rapid expansion within the global construction technology market.
Key Highlights
- Cascade raises $3.5 million in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun and other investors.
- AI platform has already helped customers uncover more than $10 billion in project opportunities.
- Customers include firms involved in JFK Airport, LaGuardia Airport, luxury hotels, data centres and nuclear facilities.
- Funding will accelerate AI development, customer growth and strategic partnerships across the construction sector.
- Platform predicts projects before Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are released.
Speaking on the funding milestone, Cascade Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Hannia Zia, said the platform was designed to solve one of the industry’s biggest revenue challenges by helping firms identify the right projects long before competitors.
“Every firm we work with can point to a project they should have won but never even had a chance to see. Cascade is built around the bottom line: find the right work early, understand where you have a real advantage, and turn that into revenue delivered,” she said.
Within just a few months of operation, Cascade has signed AEC customers involved in some of the world’s largest infrastructure developments, including John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport, nuclear reactors, luxury hotels and major data centres.
AI Detects Projects Before They Reach the Market
Unlike traditional project tracking systems, Cascade continuously analyses bond filings, construction permits, capital improvement plans, property transactions, earnings reports, government budgets and public meeting minutes to identify projects months before formal procurement begins.
The company said its proprietary AI platform predicts where new work is emerging, evaluates project suitability for contractors and identifies relationship pathways that improve bidding success.
Read also:
- Nigeria, India unveil forum to boost trade, investments
- Deploy AI to track governance, hold politicians accountable, Omo-Agege canvasses
- Grok 3 Is Here: Tackling hardest problems in Math, Science, Coding
Tim Johannesson, Principal at luxury architecture firm Smallwood, said Cascade has already helped his company discover and secure projects that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.
“Cascade has helped us respond to and win more projects, including a recent $6 million contract that we would never have found without the platform,” he said.
Founded by Former Google AI Executives
Cascade was founded by Hannia Zia and Joana Ferreira, two former Google executives who previously worked at UnlikelyAI, the artificial intelligence company established by the inventor of Amazon Alexa.
Ferreira explained that the company’s technology applies the same predictive analytics used in financial markets to forecast future construction opportunities.
“Hedge funds analyse enormous amounts of data to predict stock movements. We apply the same principle to predict construction projects,” she said.
Funding to Drive Expansion
Cascade said the fresh capital will be used to strengthen its AI platform, expand customer adoption and build a larger collaboration network connecting contractors, architects, engineers and developers across the United States.
Investors believe the company is well positioned to modernise an industry that has historically relied on manual relationship-building and traditional business development methods.
According to Marcus Segal, Investor at Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun, Cascade is addressing one of the construction industry’s most significant commercial challenges.
“Construction is one of the world’s largest industries, yet the way firms identify and win work has changed very little over the decades. Cascade is redefining how projects are pursued and delivered.”
The company said its long-term vision is to support every stage of the construction lifecycle, from early project discovery and bidding through execution and final delivery.
