In a bid to drive technological transformation in the construction industry, venture capital fund Manutara Ventures participated in the latest funding round for the startup BuildLovers. This investment aims to boost the technological development of the proptech and kickstart its operations in Chile.
According to a statement, the early-stage specialized vehicle – originating in Chile and operating in Silicon Valley and Miami – invested 300,000 dollars in the firm. This represents half of the capital raised in the round, they added.
The company aims for greater autonomy through technology, the initiation of operations, and sales growth in Chile and Spain. In the future, they are considering expanding operations throughout Latin America or the United States from Chile, they detailed.
“In the short term, our main objective is to establish a solid presence in Chile, using this market as a starting point or hub for our future expansion. In the long term, we aim to consolidate our position in the Latin American market and continue innovating in the industrialized and customized housing construction sector,” said José Manuel Martínez, CEO and Co-Founder of BuildLovers, in the statement.
The focus is also on how to reach clients once the platform is launched and on building alliances with financial entities. The digital platform, which already operates in Spain, has sold more than 20 homes since its launch and has over 75 projects in the pipeline.
Thus, the proptech joins Manutara’s portfolio, which includes several recognized startups such as Xepelin, ETpay, and OpenCasa. Overall, the total valuation of the portfolio exceeds 1 billion dollars, reaching a value more than ten times the initial investment.
Investment Story
The connection between the two entities in the entrepreneurial ecosystem was established when the startup made the first approach, according to the venture capital fund’s statement.
“On our part, we observed, thanks to an investment in Fund I, that there is a certain difficulty in acquiring homes at a reasonable price and within an appropriate timeframe, a problem that BuildLovers helps to solve. Additionally, the construction industry has seen very little technological innovation from a client perspective,” said Nicolás Moreno, Portfolio Manager of Manutara Ventures.
Martínez, on the other hand, highlights the fund’s “solid reputation in supporting innovative projects and visionary entrepreneurs” from Chile.
What factors ultimately led them to invest in BuildLovers? The portfolio manager emphasizes that “the team is fundamental to any investment” and assures that the founding team of the startup has “what it takes to take this startup to the next level.”
Furthermore, the investment firm highlights that “model validation is very relevant, as this fund seeks to invest in more mature companies, which goes hand in hand with the traction achieved to date. The traction was quite promising, considering that the technology was in its MVP (minimum viable product) stage to validate the model. Having the model validated at the time of investment is very positive for us,” adds Moreno.
