Katerra, a US-based design and construction software developer backed by contract manufacturer Foxconn, emerged from stealth last week having just raised $130m at a valuation of more than $1bn, Fortune reported.
The amount was confirmed by Katerra itself, though the company did not reveal the participants in the series C round. It has raised $220m in total from backers also including Greenoaks Capital, Moore Capital Management, Khosla Ventures, DFJ and wealth management firm Paxion, according to Fortune.
Founded in 2015, Katerra has built a platform that streamlines the design and building process by operating as an end-to-end system through which it sources and gains materials before taking on construction itself.
A user will provide details on the kind of building they need and Katerra’s software can then create a basic layout of the prospective structure. It buys materials in bulk to save money, assembles them at its manufacturing facility and then ships them to the building site.
Katerra said in a statement it will invest the funding in research and development as well as additional factories that will add to its existing facility in Phoenix, Arizona.