All Thibault Launay and his spouse Simi wished almost 5 years in the past was to construct a dream house in Portugal, the place they each now reside.
However what they encountered as an alternative was a damaged system. “Fourteen months of delays, 20% budget overruns, and endless stress managing over 10 subcontractors,” Thibault recalled. They purchased the land in December 2020, received the development license in early 2022, and began constructing that yr. “That was supposed to finish in February 2024,” he stated. Nevertheless it’s Might 2025, and the house nonetheless isn’t accomplished.
“We realized,” he continued, “if we’re struggling with this, so are millions of others.”
So Thibault, himself a serial founder and entrepreneur, and Simi, a advisor and in addition a founder, launched Litehaus, an organization that touts to assist landowners and property builders construct properties in a extra environment friendly and sustainable method. It tackles a urgent want in each the U.S. and the European markets: the flexibility to construct reasonably priced properties.
Litehaus, which launched early final yr, calls itself the “Uber of construction,” with Thibault saying the corporate simply needs to attach all of the presently fragmented components of the home-building course of. It matches landowners and property builders with different professionals comparable to building corporations, architects, contractors, and inside designers. The corporate permits customers to trace prices, coordinate schedules with the employed staff, and monitor the progress of the constructing in actual time.
“As a go-to-market strategy, we decided to focus mainly on modular construction, allowing us to build 30% cheaper, 40% faster, and 60% more sustainably,” Thibault stated, including that meant 90% much less waste and 50% much less CO2 emissions in contrast with conventional building.
Others within the modular building area embody the US-based Ginosko Modular and Flummerfelt and the India-based Schnelle Prefabs, in accordance with Pitchbook.
Litehaus has a minimum of one U.S. building firm in its community because it seems to be to additional its enlargement within the nation. Proper now, it’s targeted on turning into “Europe’s fastest-growing construction tech startup,” Thibault stated.
Plus, the European building business may use extra innovation. Buyers in America pour billions of {dollars} into rising building know-how, and, as normal, there may be a lot room for the European tech business to catch up.
Buyers right here and throughout the pond clearly agree. Final week, Litehaus introduced a €1.46 million pre-seed spherical, led by the U.Ok.’s Cornerstone VC, with participation from Explorer Fund, considered one of Portugal’s largest personal fairness funds; Claster Group, a Luxembourgish household workplace; and angel investor Pascal Levy, a enterprise accomplice at Lengthy Journey Ventures right here within the U.S.
“The shortage of housing across Europe has triggered a crisis, driving up the cost of living as home ownership becomes increasingly out of reach,” Rodney Appiah, a managing accomplice at Cornerstone VC, stated. “When I first met Thibault and Simi, I was struck by their compelling vision: to make building a home as simple as buying one, catalysing the construction industry to bring greater transparency, sustainability, quality, and trust to the home-building process.”
Thibault known as the fundraising journey “intense.” He stated he and Simi had recognized their lead buyers for years via mutual pals. Thibault, who’s from France, is the founding father of an immersive gaming studio in Portugal, however has additionally invested in quite a few corporations, each as an angel investor and thru his work at corporations 50 Companions and Origins, based mostly in France and New York, respectively. Earlier than that, he labored at a French mining firm and in inexperienced tech.
Simi, in the meantime, was born in Nigeria and grew up in London. She ran a recent artwork gallery, a wellness model for ladies of colour, and labored as a advisor and strategist for varied corporations on regulation and Africa.
“I’ve always wanted to build businesses that change people’s lives,” Simi advised TechCrunch. “Providing affordable homes at scale isn’t just a market opportunity—it’s one of the most meaningful ways we can create deep, lasting impact.”
She is now answerable for advertising and marketing, communication, and design at Litehaus; her husband, Thibault, handles fundraising, enterprise improvement, and tech.
“When it came time to raise, we moved quickly with partners who already knew us and shared our vision from day one,” Thibault stated. He stated the contemporary capital will likely be used to assist scale the cash and rent extra expertise in engineering, product, advertising and marketing, and operations.
It’s fairly humorous that Thibault and Simi constructed an organization, raised over 1,000,000 euros, and had two youngsters, earlier than their house, a course of they began engaged on over 4 years in the past, was lastly completed.
“We are actually moving in next month,” Thibault stated. “We move in next month after a 14-month delay on completion. This is the pain point we are trying to solve for millions of people.”
