GreenLite Raises $28.5M to Privatize Permitting for Developers and Regulatory Authorities

GreenLite, a construction technology company making permitting faster and more predictable for builders, developers, and municipalities, today announced its Series A raise of $28.5 million, led by Craft Ventures with participation from 53 Stations, Trust Ventures, and LiveOak Ventures. The new funding comes less than a year after GreenLite’s launch from stealth and will be used to enhance its technology platform and Private Plan Review offering, in addition to expanding into new markets and customer segments, and deepening its work with local government agencies.

Today, traditional construction permitting processes entail complicated applications and extremely unpredictable timelines for builders, developers, business owners, cities, and residents. The pandemic exacerbated this issue, with local governments focusing on more pressing priorities, leaving permit applications on the back burner while costing the economy tens of billions of dollars a year.

“Across the U.S., there are 20,000 different jurisdictions with 500,000 different forms and application processes for building permits. This is cumbersome because 95% of applicable building code across jurisdictions is the same,” said James Gallagher, Co-Founder and CEO of GreenLite. “As a Private Provider, we consolidate these administrative differences and give developers the opportunity to work with one privatized regulatory agency – in this case GreenLite. Our approach accelerates development timelines, saves customers millions, and better serves the needs of city and county governments when compared to other construction permitting workflow software out there.”

GreenLite’s purpose-built technology and Private Plan Review service standardize and automate the entire permitting process – not just the permit application – across all jurisdictions, reducing the time and labor required for plan review by 75% per project. As the only software-first Private Provider in the market, this full-stack approach ensures that both developers and cities benefit from modern tools that facilitate faster, more organized, and more predictable construction permitting.

“The most passionate and driven founders have lived through the pain of the problem they’re solving for – this is the case with GreenLite founders James and Ben. They care deeply about our country’s ability to build quickly and safely, whether it be infrastructure, commercial projects, or housing developments,” said Bryan Rosenblatt, Partner at Craft Ventures. “GreenLite is an ally and partner to both the commercial sector and regulatory authorities. We support their mission to modernize the collaboration between developers, builders, and governments, with the ultimate goal of accelerating America’s ability to build.”

GreenLite’s platform is unique because it integrates construction drawings, zoning and use data, local building code, and expert compliance markup all in one database. The digital combination allows GreenLite to surface recurring local compliance patterns, saving time for reviewers and developers alike by catching non-compliance more efficiently and providing both sides with automated insights that feed earlier into the design process.

GreenLite works with a diverse range of Fortune 500 retailers, quick service restaurants, developers, and production home builders today. Its Private Plan Review service produces important code compliance data at the local level and has generated tens of thousands of individual compliance comments to date. The Private Provider industry has grown upwards of 700% over the past five years and will continue to mature as companies like GreenLite expand their support of the public and private sectors.

“Timely delivery of new units across our family of brands is table stakes and permitting regularly presents huge challenges” said Sumaia Alamoudi, Senior Director of Design and Project Management at Driven Brands. “GreenLite continuously helps us open new units ahead of schedule by delivering meaningful predictability and speed to a notoriously opaque and slow phase of real estate development.”

About GreenLite:

Founded in 2022, GreenLite is revolutionizing development in America by streamlining the collaboration between developers, builders, and local regulatory authorities. GreenLite’s software powers its Private Plan Review offering, serving many of the nation’s largest public retailers, developers, and production home builders. By leveraging GreenLite’s technology, its customers save months on each project, significantly accelerating their timelines and staying within budget.

GreenLite is founded by experts in technology, development, and within the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) industry, and backed by leading venture capital firms. GreenLite is at the forefront of the privatization of construction permitting and plan review, reshaping a multi-hundred billion dollar industry.

Source