Amazon enters the home builder market
It was only a matter time, but Amazon has now entered the home builder arena.
Plant Prefab – a Rialto, Calif.-based prefabrication company – revealed that it had secured $6.7 million in Series A funding, including investments from the Amazon Alexa Fund and Obvious Ventures.
The move demonstrates Amazon’s drive to gain a piece of the home building puzzle, along with an arena for the sale and placement of Amazon smart home devices.
Last week Amazon unveiled 15 new Alexa-enabled products including a microwave and auto accessories. The company also recently launched Alexa Hunches, which provides household suggestions based on at-home behavior patterns – including locking the front door or turning the lights off each evening.
“Voice has emerged as a delightful technology in the home, and there are now more than 20,000 Alexa-compatible smart home devices from 3,500 different brands,” said Paul Bernard, director of the Alexa Fund. “Plant Prefab is a leader in home design and an emerging, innovative player in home manufacturing. We’re thrilled to support them as they make sustainable, connected homes more accessible to customers and developers.”
According to Plant Prefab, this latest round of funding will be used toward investments in new senior hires, building the marketing and sales team, and developing Plant Prefab’s patented Plant Building System.
Plant Prefab manufactures custom single and multi-family homes that are "high-quality, sustainable, healthy and durable," the company says, noting that it’s the first home factory in the nation focused on sustainable construction, materials, processes, and operations.
The builder says its approach reduces construction time by 50% and cost by 10% to 25% in major cities while minimizing the negative impact of development on energy, water, resources, and indoor air quality.
Plant Prefab Founder and CEO Steve Glenn says, “In the housing-crunched major cities like Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, along with areas like Silicon Valley, it takes too much time to build a home from groundbreaking to occupancy, and labor shortages, construction delays and increased construction costs are exacerbating this trend even further – and making homes increasingly less affordable.”
Glenn added, “Building homes in factories addresses these challenges, particularly as we’re able integrate online technology, new building systems, and automation to dramatically reduce the time and cost necessary to design and build high-quality, custom homes.”
In recent months Plant Prefab has installed 26 units in California and Utah as well as a multifamily project in Berkeley.
“We love working with companies that make a world positive impact on everyday lives. Plant Prefab is focused on dramatically improving efficiencies and environmental responsibility in the $330 billion market for new homes in the US,” said Andrew Beebe, managing director of Obvious Ventures.
“With increased costs, labor shortages, reduced affordability, and the enormous impact housing has on carbon emissions, there are few challenges more important than creating more accessible, healthy housing,” Beebe explained.
Plant Prefab was spun out of LivingHomes in 2016. The latter is a design and development company that’s designed and built dozens of award-winning prefabricated homes, including the nation’s first LEED Platinum home.
Plant Prefab – a Rialto, Calif.-based prefabrication company – revealed that it had secured $6.7 million in Series A funding, including investments from the Amazon Alexa Fund and Obvious Ventures.
The move demonstrates Amazon’s drive to gain a piece of the home building puzzle, along with an arena for the sale and placement of Amazon smart home devices.
Last week Amazon unveiled 15 new Alexa-enabled products including a microwave and auto accessories. The company also recently launched Alexa Hunches, which provides household suggestions based on at-home behavior patterns – including locking the front door or turning the lights off each evening.
“Voice has emerged as a delightful technology in the home, and there are now more than 20,000 Alexa-compatible smart home devices from 3,500 different brands,” said Paul Bernard, director of the Alexa Fund. “Plant Prefab is a leader in home design and an emerging, innovative player in home manufacturing. We’re thrilled to support them as they make sustainable, connected homes more accessible to customers and developers.”
According to Plant Prefab, this latest round of funding will be used toward investments in new senior hires, building the marketing and sales team, and developing Plant Prefab’s patented Plant Building System.
Plant Prefab manufactures custom single and multi-family homes that are "high-quality, sustainable, healthy and durable," the company says, noting that it’s the first home factory in the nation focused on sustainable construction, materials, processes, and operations.
The builder says its approach reduces construction time by 50% and cost by 10% to 25% in major cities while minimizing the negative impact of development on energy, water, resources, and indoor air quality.
Plant Prefab Founder and CEO Steve Glenn says, “In the housing-crunched major cities like Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, along with areas like Silicon Valley, it takes too much time to build a home from groundbreaking to occupancy, and labor shortages, construction delays and increased construction costs are exacerbating this trend even further – and making homes increasingly less affordable.”
Glenn added, “Building homes in factories addresses these challenges, particularly as we’re able integrate online technology, new building systems, and automation to dramatically reduce the time and cost necessary to design and build high-quality, custom homes.”
In recent months Plant Prefab has installed 26 units in California and Utah as well as a multifamily project in Berkeley.
“We love working with companies that make a world positive impact on everyday lives. Plant Prefab is focused on dramatically improving efficiencies and environmental responsibility in the $330 billion market for new homes in the US,” said Andrew Beebe, managing director of Obvious Ventures.
“With increased costs, labor shortages, reduced affordability, and the enormous impact housing has on carbon emissions, there are few challenges more important than creating more accessible, healthy housing,” Beebe explained.
Plant Prefab was spun out of LivingHomes in 2016. The latter is a design and development company that’s designed and built dozens of award-winning prefabricated homes, including the nation’s first LEED Platinum home.