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Austin-based Icon, one of the largest players in 3D printed real estate, announces its $200 million Series D funding co-led by Baillie Gifford and funds managed by BlackRock, among others. This brings the total funding to $700 million, with the company reporting a valuation of $1.4 billion.
These funds follow its latest technology, the Titan multi-story 3D robotic construction system, which launched commercially in March this year. Previous Icon technology only allowed single-story structures to be built. The Titan also cuts the average home construction time by six weeks, reduces the number of workers needed and reduces overall costs by 40%, according to Icon.
“We were really looking for a group of investors who had helped brick-and-mortar businesses in the built world move from early startup proof points to scale,” said Jason Ballard, co-founder and CEO of Icon, highlighting Baillie Gifford’s experience with companies like Nvidia, Tesla and SpaceX, as well as BlackRock’s massive real estate portfolio.
“It’s truly a world-class result for us,” he added.
The Titan multi-story 3D robotic construction system.
Credit: Casey Dunn
Icon is moving forward at a time when the traditional homebuilding industry is under pressure from higher interest rates and higher costs for land, labor and materials. There is also a continuing housing shortage, with some estimating that up to four million new homes will still be needed to meet current demand.
The funding will be used to evolve the Titan and advance new technologies. It will also help the company expand its current presence in Texas, Florida and Washington, DC, as well as bring it into new markets in the United States.
“The construction system that Icon “The development we have developed over the last decade is compelling, not only because it uses new technologies, but also because it works with, rather than against, the commercial realities that shape a project’s success,” said Luke Ward, director of private company investments at Baillie Gifford. “As long-term investors, we look for exactly this kind of significant opportunity for our clients, coupled with patient and complex execution.”
Icon previously used its printers on its own projects, like this all-3D community outside of Austin that was a project for Lennar. It is now selling its new technology to other manufacturers, with the help of special financing from Wells Fargo. The lender also offers incentives to home buyers.
“It’s a new motion for us, right? Putting these things in other people’s hands, and we have about 10 times the demand in terms of real money reservations that we were actually anticipating needing for next year,” Ballard said, adding that demand is coming from both large, publicly traded builders and small private companies.
Only eight years old, Icon has already evolved rapidly. The company’s goals are to build homes faster, cheaper and more sustainably.
“We hit all these measurable, quality performance indicators. It got people excited,” Ballard said. “This is an industry that is in big trouble right now and is looking for new solutions because the old ways just aren’t working.”
Icon is on pace to see its revenue grow four times this year, according to Ballard, who predicts they will at least double that figure next year, based on their current pipeline. He also said he sees a possible IPO in the future.
Icon has also worked with the US military and NASA. It is currently deploying robotic construction systems to “rebuild military readiness, strengthen national security infrastructure, and expand human presence beyond Earth,” according to the company. For the latter, it secured more than $370 million in government contracts to advance Project Olympus, which is developing construction systems to eventually build on the Moon.
“I think there will be some pretty exciting announcements from NASA in the second half of this year regarding the Moon base, and we’ll stay in step with them, but this program looks really exciting and we’re pretty optimistic about it,” Ballard said.
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