Follow the Money Edition 7: Monday, January 6th, 2025

Holidays round-up and what we're looking out for in 2025

Deep Insight: 2024 was the year of VCs backing point-solutions and PE consolidating the basics. What are we expecting in 2025?

As many of you already know, the time period around Christmas and New Years is a particularly slow time for venture capital and private equity deals. Even still, we tracked a handful of funding rounds and transactions that closed leading up to and over the holidays. Additionally, we want to take a moment to recap the trends we saw in 2024 and what we’re hoping to see in 2025.

In 2024, venture capital in built-world tech followed a predictable path. Funding poured into point solutions—tools designed to streamline financing, insurance, permitting, tenant screening, or property maintenance. These tools are undeniably useful, but they lack the scope to reimagine how the built world actually functions. Instead of sweeping, systemic disruption, we got incremental optimization.

On the private equity side, consolidation of basic building systems and infrastructure ruled the day. Fire safety systems, HVAC platforms, lighting fixtures, and labor all became targets for roll-ups and efficiency plays. The playbook was standard: buy, implement best practices, cut costs, and repeat. It’s a sound strategy, especially during uncertain economic times, but it’s not the kind of playbook that produces paradigm-shifting outcomes.

That’s the word on everyone’s lips right now: outcomes. The investors I’ve spoken to in recent weeks who have been in the game the longest and manage significant capital, are aligned on one point: this sector needs a big, obvious win. A towering success story that proves tech can fundamentally reshape how our physical environement is financed, constructed, managed, and experienced.

What will 2025 bring? The optimists are hoping for moonshots—companies that don’t just tweak how a building operates but redefine the way we live. Perhaps a truely vertically integrated developer will emerge, I’m talking bolts-to-brand type integrated. Maybe an AI-driven data platform will finally close the gap between on-paper underwriting and real-world performance.

But until then, the market feels poised, like a boxer circling the ring, waiting for an opening. Here’s to bringing changes in 2025. And, a warning - if you’re an incumbent behemoth who refuses to innovate, you’re going to have to get out of the way.

VC Funding Rounds

• Stand, a San Francisco-based insurance provider for climate-impacted properties, raised $30 million in funding from Inspired Capital, Lowercarbon, Equal Ventures, and Convective Capital.

  • Quick Insight: Last year we wrote extensively about the unseen impact of disasters like Hurricane Otis, Stand is the company that’s working toward a solution for the challenge they pose to reinsurance and property insurance

• Mojave Energy Systems, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based energy-efficient HVAC system manufacturer, raised $9.5 million in Series A funding. Existing investors Fifth Wall and At One Ventures led the round and were joined by Earth Venture Capital and existing investors Myriad Venture Partners, Starshot Capital, and Alumni Ventures Group.

• Jome, an Austin-based AI-powered real estate marketplace, raised $9.8 million in Series A funding. Geek Ventures led the round and was joined by U.Ventures, Toloka VC, and Forefront VP.

• Buildpeer, a San Pedro Garza García, Mexico-based construction management platform, raised $2.5 million in seed funding from Brick & Mortar Ventures.

• Hostaway, a Helsinki-based vacation rental platform, raised $365 million in funding. General Atlantic led the round and was joined by existing investor PSG Equity.

  • Quick Insight: Imagine a Shopify-type platform for the folks who got just a liiiiittle too deep into the Airbnb/VRBO game and now its their main business. That’s what this is

• Slip Robotics, an Atlanta-based automated truck-loading robots-as-a-service provider, raised $28 million in Series B funding. DCVC led the round and was joined by existing investors EVE Atlas, Tech Square Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and others.

  • Quick Insight: Every single expert I talk to in the logistics industry tells me that these types of robotics products are worse than useless, and humanoid robots will be the truly transformational product that automates truck loading and warehouse work. I tend to think they’re correct.

• Loadar, a Belfast, Ireland-based freight procurement and management service, raised $4 million in seed funding. Frontline Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investor Techstart Ventures.