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Talk to many architects , and they ’ll in all likelihood severalise you that Autodesk ’s software , including AutoCAD and Revit , has been essential to their work for decade .
But despite their widespread use , Autodesk ’s former co - CEO and chief merchandise military officer Amar Hanspal says that the architecture , applied science , and construction ( AEC ) industry is using twentieth century dick to design 21st century building . His latest startup , Motif — a fellowship that Hanspal describes as a “ next - generation intent platform for edifice ” — is set out to convert that . It ’s now raised $ 46 million in aid of that effort .
Hanspal is get along to the problem on the heel of a long calling already in the space of AEC technology . He spend about 20 years at Autodesk , and then in 2018 he co - founded Bright Machines , a fabrication automation company ( which itself has raisedsignificant financial backing ) . Six years by and by , Hanspal provide Bright Machines and was looking for his next act .
His exploration of the AEC industry revealed significant frustration among architects with existing package , which is largely not swarm - establish and can take up to 45 minutes to process even dewy-eyed edits .
In 2023 , Hanspal teamed up with Brian Mathews , former product CTO at Autodesk , to work out on Motif .
Motif ’s first product wo n’t be quick until the first half of this year but Hanspal give a uncut moving picture of what it would be . He tell that Motif is working on building a political program that will offer a set of cloud - native 3-D computer - aided purpose tools that will have elements of machine learning and AI .
The $ 46 million that the startup has now heighten is a combining of seed and Series A funding . The Series A was led by CapitalG , Alphabet ’s growth stock , while Redpoint Ventures lead the seed round .
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CapitalG partner Jill Chase say TechCrunch that she was research the software for architects before conform to Motif . She noticed that it ’s a very large market with outdated Cartesian product .
She wondered why existing tools still have n’t been disrupted and learned that redact 3D computer architecture manakin in the cloud is technically very unmanageable .
In addition to the engineering complexness , deal these shaft could be challenge , Chase said . “ You have to have some factor of trust and relationships with crowing computer architecture business firm for them to even let you in the room access . ”
When she met Hanspal and Mathews , she immediately be intimate that their combined 40 years of experience in the AEC software industry will help oneself them produce a troupe that can take on officeholder .
As for why it is taking so long to free the first mathematical product , Hanspal compared Motif ’s effort to contrive company Figma , which was in stealthmode for three yearsbefore releasing anything .
“ It ’s a very big and challenging speculation that we know will take a substantial amount of drive to pull off , ” Hanspal say .
Motif is not alone in trying to disrupt AEC software . Other startup in the sector includeSnaptrudeandArcol .
But Hanspal is certain that Motif has the best fortune of winning in this market .
“ It really want a very special team that is uncoerced to do the voiceless work , ” he said . “ I recall that ’s us . ”
