Leko Labs, a Luxembourg-based construction proptech that is developing wood-based alternatives to steel and concrete, announced today closing a $21 million Series A led by 2150, according to TechCrunch.
The company, which claims to be a “carbon negative” construction company, says it will use the funding to scale its software and robotics construction across Europe, including Germany, the Nordics and UK.
It also announced naming Dr. Remo Gerber, former CCO of air taxi startup Lilium, as CEO, and the move of Leko’s current CEO Francois Cordier to the role of CTO. Microsoft‘s Climate Innovation Fund, Tencent, AMAVI, Rise PropTech Fund, Extantia and Freigeist also participated in the round.
As ESG standards and environmental protection continue to grow in importance, in proptech and in general, Leko Labs is working to shrink the carbon footprint of construction. The company does this through a wall and floor system based on wood and wood fiber, which it says can replace up to 75% of concrete and steel currently used in constructing a single building.
The wood composite product is built to withstand high compression loads, claiming 30,000 times its own mass, and is sourced from sustainable forestry (the trees used for timber are replanted). Through this product, it says it can save thousands of tons of CO2 versus traditional approaches.
Leko also says that this “new” wood can provide better insulation properties for buildings with thin walls, meaning these structures need less heating and cooling and can provide more floor space versus traditional buildings.
In order to create this eco-friendly building material, the company uses a robotics-driven approach, with prefabricated walls built off-site and delivered to the construction area as needed. They claim this reduces the time for building by 50%, according to TechCrunch.
Additionally, it provides a software platform to optimize building design processes and ensure high efficiencies, enabling users to automate building design, reduce wood usage and resolve moisture and noise challenges.
In other recent proptech news, AvantStay closed a $500 million short-term rental non-equity property asset fund. Nomad also raised $20 million to promote long-term rental revenue for mom-and-pop landlords, via its guaranteed rent service.