US-based modular housing provider Factory_OS has secured $55m in a series B round that included internet technology provider Google, design software producer Autodesk and social media company Facebook.
Asset management firm Lafayette Square led the round, which also featured financial services firms Citi and Morgan Stanley.
Factory_OS develops affordable prefabricated housing units in the San Francisco Bay Area. It uses off-site construction and on-site installation processes in a bid to boost quality, lower costs and complete projects faster than with conventional construction methods.
The company has built almost 1,000 units since it was founded three years ago and has claimed it can build a 100-unit apartment building in under 10 days. It agreed a reported $25m to $30m deal in 2017 to build 300 apartments for its first customer, Google owner Alphabet.
The funding will be used to accelerate manufacturing at Factory_OS’s second production facility and invest in technology development including robotics, in addition to expanding into the Los Angeles area and opening a new housing innovation centre.
Factory_OS raised $22.7m from unnamed investors in June 2019, according to a regulatory filing. Autodesk joined Citi’s Spread Products Investment Technologies unit to provide an undisclosed amount the following month that could have formed part of the round.