MeltPlan, a Berkeley, CA-based AI-native planning engine for pre-construction in the AEC industry, has raised $10M in seed funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with noa and WND Ventures participating, bringing total funding to $14M. The platform integrates modules for building code compliance, quantity takeoffs, bidding, scheduling, and value engineering to reduce errors before project scope locks in. The capital will accelerate development of the full planning engine.
ConTech AI Funding Wave Builds Momentum
The round arrives amid rising investor interest in AI preconstruction tools. Materialspace raised $7M seed on February 2, 2026, for interior planning, while Togal.AI promotes AI takeoff adoption amid 87% of contractors expecting impact. MeltPlan's integrated approach — proprietary models with 93-98% accuracy and AEC-specific citations — targets fragmentation across code, cost, and schedule that siloed tools miss.
30% Overruns Plague $14T Construction
Construction projects face average 30% budget overruns and 20% schedule delays, contributing to a $1.6T annual productivity gap per McKinsey. Fragmented building codes — over 6,000 local U.S. variants — amplify compliance risks, with manual research consuming hours per project. Traditional software like STACK relies on manual takeoffs, failing to unify precon workflows amid labor shortages and material volatility.
Proprietary AI Delivers Cited Reasoning
MeltPlan builds 'construction-native AI' using proprietary models trained on AEC ontologies, not off-the-shelf LLMs, achieving 93-98% accuracy versus 85% for commercial RAG platforms on inspector exams. Melt Code provides instant compliance pathways with citations; Melt Takeoff combines AI analysis with onshore estimators for verified quantities; Melt Bid scopes and levels bids (launching soon). This multimodal reasoning extracts structured data from PDFs, enabling scenario planning before designs freeze.
Unlike Togal.AI's takeoff focus or Kreo Software's estimating suite ($4.3M raised), MeltPlan integrates code compliance — reducing research time 75% per testimonials from CHD Architects and MK Inspections.
As noa investor Jess Clemans noted:
"MeltPlan’s unique moat is their deep product experience and technical acumen, building proprietary AI models from scratch — not fine-tuned off-the-shelf models."
Bessemer Signals ConTech Scale Bet
Bessemer Venture Partners' lead investment validates MeltPlan's trajectory in a sector where contech unicorns like Procore trade at 15x multiples. The firm's portfolio conviction in vertical AI follows bets on similar enterprise platforms. Participation from noa and WND Ventures adds European and specialist backing, aligning with pilots at DPR Construction (U.S.) and Innovo Group (UAE).
AI Construction Market Scales to $25B
The AI in construction market stands at $3.02B in 2026, projected to reach $24.7B by 2035 at 26.4% CAGR, driven by data center booms and BIM integration. Construction estimating software hits $3.07B with 12.7% CAGR. Competitors include STACK Construction ($19M+ raised), ProEst (Autodesk-acquired), and UpCodes for code search.
Data center construction alone forecasts $3T spend, demanding precise precon tools for complex compliance.
Unicorn Founder Pairs with DPR Expertise
CEO Kanav Hasija co-founded and scaled Innovaccer to a $3.4B unicorn with $150M+ ARR after $675M raised. COO Tanmaya Kala brings 17 years at DPR Construction, managing billion-dollar projects like Apple Cupertino. CTO Prithiviraj Damodaran leads with open-source NLP tools (100+ citations), while Head of Estimating Parth Gounder adds 20 years on $1B+ arenas. Advisors include ex-Autodesk Co-CEO Amar Hanspal.
Product Verticals Launch Imminent
MeltPlan plans launches of its first three product verticals soon, building on Melt Code adoption and takeoff pilots. Expansion targets more general contractors via DPR partnerships, with AI Bid entering beta amid estimator demand from ASPE events.