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Cascade<\/a>, a startup building a platform to help architecture, engineering and construction firms find and win projects, has raised a $3.5 million seed round from Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun, Ada Ventures, and Snowball VC. <\/p>\n Launched in 2025, Cascade is a result of its founders, Hannia Zia and Joana Ferreira, witnessing first-hand the difficulty construction businesses face with predictably securing work. <\/p>\n \u201cMy mother worked in a company that sold materials to construction companies, and my uncle built mansions in the Middle East. They\u2019re incredible at their craft but just don\u2019t have access to the right tools to get more work,\u201d Ferreira told TechCrunch. And Zia recalled the time her father tried starting a construction business back in her native Pakistan: \u201cHe just couldn\u2019t get enough projects to sustain himself.\u201d <\/p>\n Zia describes the current process of finding construction projects as a \u201cconstant treasure hunt,\u201d with firms having to log into each U.S. state, city, district, county, and federal agency\u2019s portals. \u201cSo if you\u2019re really good at building suspension bridges, you have to find all of those opportunities across these disparate portals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Cascade aims to help architecture, construction and engineering firms on this front by tracking ongoing and upcoming projects, and then using prior tender data to predict which developers are likely to win the deals. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s how the platform works: A company signs up to the platform, and then Cascade uses AI tools to determine which projects they have the best chance of winning. It also predicts what projects are coming up, using different signals and data points across U.S. states, local districts, private contracts, and federal agencies. For example, if a state announces a $100 million affordable housing grant, Cascade will monitor which developers won the grant the last time it was announced.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe connect that data, and we tell our customers: \u2018Most likely one of these five developers will win this newly announced grant, so go start talking to them to win projects,\u2019\u201d Ferreira explained.<\/p>\n The duo applied to A16z\u2019s speedrun last September. They said the pressure to do well on demo day and being around the \u201cbrilliance\u201d of other founders helped the company sign contracts with firms that have built the JFK and La Guardia airports, Four Seasons hotels, and some data centers. \u201cSpeedrun gave us visibility and a stamp of approval to close big deals,\u201d Zia said. <\/p>\n The startup will use the fresh cash to go to market, host industry events and hire more engineers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Other startups in this area include GovWin IQ and ConstructConnect, but Ferreira argues Cascade is a bit more AI-native than these platforms. <\/p>\n \u201cEvery time a customer wins a bid, they give feedback, so the system keeps getting smarter. Over time, we\u2019ll have a complete map of the industry that our AI can traverse to predict the best projects and leads for each customer,\u201d\u00a0she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n