Rival Holdings invests in robotic home builder
Rival Holdings, the parent company of Ambassador Supply and Via Developments, has invested in Automated Architecture (AUAR).
The U.K.-based tech company says it is building a micro-factory network for sustainable timber housing. AUAR partners with home builders and contractors in Europe and North America, licensing its technology to build low-energy homes at the price of normal homes, at scale.
According to Rival, the company offers a different vision for the built environment, empowering local ecosystems of communities, contractors, architects, and developers to build better homes.
“Rival is thrilled to partner with AUAR,” said Rival Holdings CEO Brad Crawford. “We are both an investor and a customer, and we look forward to the innovation and disruption that will be created in the market through their technology and vision.”
AUAR was founded in 2019 by Mollie Claypool, CEO, and Gilles Retsin, CTO and chief architect, after working together for over a decade researching how robotics, generative design, and AI could transform housing.
Via its Linkedin page, the startup recently announced that it has raised £2.6M (U.S.$3.28 million) in funding. Investors include Morgan Stanley, Vandenbussche Group, and Bacchus Venture Capital, among others.
Rival Holdings did not disclose exactly how much it has invested in AUAR.
“There is a huge and urgent need for affordable low-energy homes, but currently these are expensive to build and difficult to deliver at scale,” Claypool said. “Building high-quality, sustainable timber homes is hard to scale, but AUAR is here to change that. Robots and AI allow us to deliver high-quality housing at significantly lower costs, increasing margins and productivity while lowering the cost for the end users.
Rival, which launched operations in 2023, owns 14 companies in the building materials industry under its Ambassador Supply banner including truss and component manufacturers.
