Cascade Raises $3.5M to Spot Construction Projects Before the Bid Exists
Cascade, an AI pursuit platform, has secured $3.5 million in funding from prominent investors like Andreessen Horowitz’s Speedrun program, Ada Ventures, Blitzscaling Ventures, Indico Capital, shuckerVC, G2C Ventures, and Snowball VC. The platform aims to predict multimillion-dollar construction projects by analyzing various public records months before they officially go out for bid.
How Cascade Works
Cascade monitors bond filings, permits, county capital plans, property transactions, earnings transcripts, budget announcements, and meeting minutes to identify early signs of upcoming construction projects. By connecting these signals, the platform predicts where work is forming, what type it will be, and which firms are best positioned to win it.
Once a promising project is identified, Cascade uses its network of relationships and warm introductions to connect architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms with potential opportunities.
Inspiration from Finance
Co-founder and CTO Joana Ferreira compares their approach to that of hedge funds:
"Hedge funds look at a crazy amount of data to predict stock movements," Ferreira explains. "We use the same logic to predict construction projects."
Early Success Stories
Cascade’s early customers include renowned firms like Smallwood, who credits the platform with helping them win a $6 million project they otherwise might have missed.
Cascade’s track record boasts significant projects including work on JFK and LaGuardia airports, data centers, nuclear reactors, and luxury hotels, totaling over $10 billion in opportunities discovered through its platform.
Meet the Founders
Cascade was founded by Hannia Zia and Joana Ferreira, both former Google operators who previously worked together at UnlikelyAI, a startup co-founded by William Tunstall-Pedoe, renowned for his contributions to Amazon’s Alexa.