Cascade’s $3.5M Seed Round Aims to Simplify Construction Project Procurement
Cascade, a pioneering startup, has secured a $3.5 million seed round from esteemed investors, including Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun, Ada Ventures, and Snowball VC. Founded in 2025 by Hannia Zia and Joana Ferreira, Cascade seeks to revolutionize the construction industry by providing a platform that helps architecture, engineering, and construction firms find and win projects more efficiently.
The company’s origins stem from the experiences of its founders, who witnessed firsthand the difficulties construction businesses face in securing work. Ferreira shared a poignant anecdote about her mother’s company, which supplied materials to construction firms, and Zia recalled her father’s struggles to start a construction business in Pakistan. Both stories highlighted the challenges of accessing the right tools and information to secure more projects.
Cascade’s AI-powered platform aims to bridge this gap by tracking ongoing and upcoming projects, using prior tender data to predict which developers are likely to win deals. The platform works by connecting companies with the best chance of winning projects, using different signals and data points across U.S. states, local districts, private contracts, and federal agencies.
For instance, if a state announces a $100 million affordable housing grant, Cascade will monitor which developers won the grant the last time it was announced. The platform then provides its customers with a list of the most likely winners, enabling them to start building relationships and increasing their chances of securing the project.
Cascade’s founders have been actively working with a16z’s Speedrun program, which helped them secure contracts with prominent companies, including those that built the JFK and La Guardia airports, Four Seasons hotels, and data centers. The Speedrun program provided Cascade with visibility and a stamp of approval, enabling them to close big deals.
The startup plans to utilize the fresh funding to go to market, host industry events, and hire more engineers. With the current construction industry landscape being highly competitive, Cascade’s AI-powered platform is poised to make a significant impact by simplifying project procurement for architecture, engineering, and construction firms.
Cascade’s platform is distinct from other startups in this area, such as GovWin IQ and ConstructConnect, as it is more AI-native. The company’s founders emphasize that every time a customer wins a bid, they provide feedback, which helps the system get smarter over time. This will ultimately result in a comprehensive map of the industry that the AI can traverse to predict the best projects and leads for each customer.
Cascade’s innovative approach has the potential to transform the construction industry, and the startup’s $3.5 million seed round is a significant step towards achieving this goal.
