Cascade lands $3.5 million seed round for construction sales software
The startup says its AI platform helps architecture, engineering and construction firms find projects and target likely winners before contracts are awarded.
By Theo Nakamura · Staff Writer
· 3 min read
Cascade has raised $3.5 million in seed funding to build software for architecture, engineering and construction firms that need a steadier way to find work, according to TechCrunch. For everyday investors tracking private markets, the round is another sign that venture firms are still backing applied AI in industries where sales workflows remain fragmented and manual.
The seed round, an early financing round used to help a startup build its product and reach customers, included Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun, Ada Ventures and Snowball VC, TechCrunch reported. Cascade launched in 2025 and was founded by Hannia Zia and Joana Ferreira.
The company is aimed at a basic but expensive problem in construction: firms often have to search across separate state, city, county, district and federal agency portals to find public and private projects. Zia told TechCrunch that construction companies with a specific specialty, such as suspension bridges, still have to hunt across many disconnected systems to find relevant opportunities.
Ferreira and Zia said their interest in the problem came from family experience. Ferreira told TechCrunch that her mother worked at a business selling materials to construction companies and that her uncle built mansions in the Middle East, while Zia said her father struggled to keep a construction business going in Pakistan because he could not secure enough projects.
Cascade’s product gathers information on projects that are active or expected to come up, then uses AI to assess which opportunities a customer may be best positioned to win. AI, or artificial intelligence, refers here to software that analyzes data patterns to make recommendations. The platform also uses prior tender data, meaning records tied to formal bidding processes, to estimate which developers are likely to win future awards.
Ferreira gave TechCrunch an example involving a $100 million affordable housing grant from a state. Cascade would look at who won the grant the previous time it was offered, monitor the new opportunity and then point customers toward developers it believes are likely candidates to win the next award. She said Cascade tells customers which developers are most likely to win so they can start conversations earlier.
The founders applied to Andreessen Horowitz’s Speedrun program last September, according to TechCrunch. They said the program’s demo day pressure and founder network helped Cascade win contracts with firms that have built JFK and LaGuardia airports, Four Seasons hotels and some data centers. Zia told TechCrunch that Speedrun gave the startup visibility and credibility that helped it close larger deals.
Cascade plans to use the new capital for go-to-market work, industry events and hiring engineers, TechCrunch reported. Go-to-market refers to the sales and marketing work needed to bring a product to customers.
The company is not alone in construction project intelligence. TechCrunch identified GovWin IQ and ConstructConnect as other startups in the category. Ferreira argued to TechCrunch that Cascade is built more directly around AI, saying customer feedback after bid wins helps the system improve and could eventually give the company a broader map of industry opportunities.
This story draws on original reporting from TechCrunch.
