Mirova invests in Vestack tech company to help it become a leader in low-carbon construction

Vestack, a tech company specializing in the design and construction of low-carbon buildings, announces raising over €10 million with impact funds and historical investors. The proptech is now looking to accelerate its growth, increase its production capacity, and finance research and development projects.

“A tech revolution is necessary to reconcile sustainable construction with affordable housing”, said Sylvain Bogeat, Nicolas Guinebretière, and Jean-Christophe Pierron, Vestack’s co-founders.

This latest round of more than €10 million was led by the Impact Private Equity team of Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to impact investing, supported by Ring Mission, and Karista. It will allow the company to accelerate:

• The development of new features in its digital design software,
• R&D on the construction system and commercialization of new products,
• Increase in production capacity, by financing new assembly sites and establishing new sub-contracting partnerships.

These developments will allow Vestack to become a tech leader in the design and construction of  low-carbon buildings.

Karista supported Vestack in a previous round in 2020, which enabled the business to develop its design and build solution and open a first assembly site East of Paris. The company has constructed its first projects and signed around 20 contracts in a booming market, supported by France’s new environmental regulations.

Vestack uses a digital design technology and a modular construction system to transform how our cities are built. The business allows its clients, real estate developers, to construct buildings with a three times lower carbon footprint, twice as fast, and without any extra cost compared to traditional construction. The Greentech constructs residential, accommodation, and tertiary buildings (e.g. offices, nurseries) of up to five floors. Incorporated in 2019, the company has around 40 employees across different sites in the Paris region.

The solution developed by Vestack relies on two innovations. On the one hand, the business has developed a software that facilitates the design of a building’s digital twin (i.e. a Building Information Model) which is then turned into production instructions. This design for manufacturing approach allows the specifics of modular construction to be anticipated from the first draft of the building design. On the other hand, the group assembles the modules off-site in the form of floor and wall panels made of bio-sourced materials.

The productivity gains from digitization, industrialization and robotization absorb any extra costs related to the use of more environmentally-friendly materials. Modular construction also aids the eco-conception of buildings by optimizing the use of resources and reducing supply chain flows, as proven by the solution’s many awards and certifications. Off-site construction also reduces the nuisances associated with a building site and cuts construction time by half.

Joanna Parent, Investment Director of Mirova’s Private Equity Impact, “The goal of our approach is to accelerate the scaling of innovative environmental solutions with positive impact. A quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions and 75% of waste are linked to the construction sector¹. The issues Vestack is dealing with are vital to control our carbon emissions in the years to come and we are particularly happy to support it”.

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