Antler-backed US startup Cedar has received a significant boost in its mission to combat the US housing crisis with innovative software solutions. The US housing market has been grappling with a shortage of 6.5 million homes, owing to a decade of under-building relative to population growth and surging demand. To tackle this challenge, Cedar, based in Austin, has developed cutting-edge software that empowers real-estate developers and professionals to unlock the housing potential of urban infill properties.
Cedar recently closed a successful seed funding round, raising $3 million. The funding was led by Caffeinated Capital, a well-known venture capital firm recognized for supporting companies like CIONIC and Capchase. Other notable participants included Tishman Speyer Ventures, Maria Davidson, David Rubenstein through Shorewind Capital, and Alumni Ventures, among others. Previously, the company received support from global venture capital firm Antler during its pre-seed round.
Cedar currently serves the Austin area and has ambitious plans to expand to several major American cities in the next 12-18 months. With this new funding, the company aims to assist real-estate developers in constructing denser and more affordable urban environments.
Founded in 2022 by Kyle Vansice, Nate Peters, and Rahul Attraya in Austin, Cedar revolutionizes the real-estate development process. It streamlines the time and cost involved in sourcing and evaluating real-estate projects, a process known for its inefficiency. The Cedar platform employs generative algorithms and a mix of public and proprietary data to rapidly generate a wide range of building designs. This innovation allows it to accurately predict the development potential of any parcel in a city, converting complex land-development regulations into real development scenarios.
Cedar’s work standardizes the fragmented process of value creation, which typically consumes months of consultant work and adds substantial costs to each development project. The company believes that by simplifying urban development complexities, it can encourage builders to construct homes closer to city centers, ultimately alleviating the housing affordability crisis.
Cedar’s co-founders expressed their commitment to addressing this pressing issue. Kyle Vansice highlighted the importance of building homes in urban centers, where people want to live and work, while Nate Peters emphasized the need for innovative housing projects in urban areas. Rahul Attraya stressed the significance of “missing middle” scale projects in creating economically and environmentally sustainable density in cities.
Caffeinated Capital’s Partner Varun Gupta sees Cedar as a potential catalyst for a “new golden era of municipal development” that can help solve America’s housing shortage by assessing the economic value of land parcels.
Tyler Norwood, General Partner US at Antler, spoke about their early support for Cedar and their confidence in the team’s ability to scale their ambitious proptech vision. Cedar is poised to change the landscape of urban infill development, starting in Austin, Texas.
With this injection of funds and Cedar’s innovative approach, there is hope that the US housing crisis may finally see a transformative solution, ultimately making housing more accessible and affordable for the American population.
By Proptechbuzz
By Ravi Kumar
