The company, which just raised a Series A round of investment from the Bill Gates-founded firm Breakthrough Energy Ventures, builds homes using panels with a proprietary design that sandwiches an insulating layer between two structural boards. — Fast Company
Vantem announced it would use the recent funding from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Quadrant Management, and TEM Capital to build 15 factories for prefabricated modular housing units across the U.S. by 2029. According to the company, its proprietary panel system has already been deployed in over three million square feet of residential space globally, including Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and the Caribbean.
"Affordable housing is a global need that must be addressed," said Vantem CEO Chris Anderson, adding, "but if we build with traditional methods, we will solve one problem only to worsen another."
One year after ambitious construction startup Katerra went belly up, the market for modular, prefabricated construction is getting increasingly crowded with several players seeking to establish early dominance and disrupt the conventional model, including Vancouver-based Nexii Building Solutions and Bjarke Ingels' Nabr housing endeavor.
2 Comments
Speaking as a retired architect with hope for the future, our entire economic system is going to have to be turned on its head from the old-style gas-powered auto to the 2x4 house. I salute those who are daring to go forward with their boldness. My only question is, can these prefab units be built in the factory for $100/sf max? Are they the most energy efficient structures per SF on the market? Anyone can design build the Cadillac house. We need a reality house that takes as little as possible from nature and is as fully sustainable within itself as possible.
I’ve always liked the idea of pre-fab housing, but the true hurdle is not the house, it’s the land. Unless these companies get into the RE business and sell these houses arranged on lots with all of the necessary infrastructure…not going to take off.
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