Nemetschek Group Invests in Preoptima, a Carbon Hub for the Built Environment

Preoptima has developed a world-first carbon hub for the built environment, powered by AI and generative design, covering the entire building lifecycle – from concept to refurbishment and demolition. Nemetschek Group announced its investment in the startup on March 2, 2023.

Preoptima’s funding will be used to launch their WholeLifeCarbon API, providing uniquely accurate carbon calculations seamlessly integrated with existing workflows and toolsets. This will extend the current products, which use generative design and Artificial Intelligence to optimize carbon emissions from the earliest design onwards.

“Worldwide, more than half of all people live in cities. At the same time, buildings are now responsible for 37% of global CO₂ emissions. As urbanization continues, this trend will intensify. The construction industry must act and decarbonize its value chain”, states László Vértesi, Head of Industry Solutions Planning & Design Division at the Nemetschek Group. “Preoptima provides real value to our core market, the building design community, by enabling a precise assessment of full carbon impact of projects in the early design phase”, he adds.

A rising star

Since its launch in the second half of 2022, Preoptima has quickly achieved national and international visibility. Preoptima is an Innovative Startup Member of the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) and has been featured in the UKGBC’s Solutions Library. Preoptima is also one of Tech Nation’s Rising Stars 5.0 City Winners.

With pilot projects worldwide, Preoptima aims to accelerate its global growth to avoid carbon emissions through the building lifecycle.

“Preoptima’s mission is to radically reduce CO₂ emissions from the built environment, which is one of the most impactful levers for reducing emissions globally. By using generative artificial intelligence at the intersection of architecture and engineering, our solutions offer a new approach to tackling the issue of decarbonizing a whole industry,” said Aileen Ryan, co-founder and CEO of Preoptima.”

The Nemetschek Group brings a global reach

Tanja Kufner, Head of Startups & Venture Investments at the Nemetschek Group, adds, “Preoptima’s cloud-based software platform that predetermines, measures, manages, and mitigates carbon emissions throughout the lifetime by using AI is tackling one of the biggest challenges for the construction industry. Their solution can be used at every stage in the building lifecycle, allowing significant and quantitative carbon discussions between all stakeholders in the built environment.”

The Nemetschek Group brings a global reach as an investor in Preoptima, and the investment is a perfect fit with their own solutions, such as the Vectorworks Embodied Carbon Calculator or Spacewell Energy Solutions, but also with their engagement as one of the supporters of Madaster, the global cadaster for building materials.

Source: The Nemetschek Group, Berlin, March 2, 2023