Modular building startup Veev is closing after raising $600M

Once a darling of the startup world in the construction sector, Veev is shutting down.

Employees of the modular construction company were informed of the impending closure over the weekend, Calcalist reported. The California-based proptech company told its staff that the last-minute cancellation of a capital-raising initiative left it without funding necessary to continue.

In a statement to the publication, Veev said the “current entity of the company will be closed in the coming days.” The company said its assets would be transferred to an assignee to be sold in the United States, while Israeli employees will keep working.

The Real Deal could not reach Veev for comment.

Veev specializes in modular construction — designing, building and assembling all the components of its turnkey homes. Primarily operating in California, Veev manufactures its parts in Union City in a process similar to that of a semiconductor factory, according to Veev co-founder CEO Amit Haller.

The company, founded in 2008, produces walls, ceilings and floors with electrical and plumping installed for assembly at a given site. It aims to cut construction timelines and labor costs.

Veev initially resonated with investors. It raised $100 million in March 2021 through a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange platform. Last year, in the midst of a global venture capital downturn, the San Mateo-based company raised $400 million in a Series D round that valued Veev at $1 billion.

Veev planned to use the cash to add staff and expand into new markets, producing fully cladded walls, complete with mechanical, electrical and plumbing. The company raised $600 million altogether and had 400 employees at its height.

Months after its Series D, however, Veev laid off 30 percent of its staff and pivoted from building high-rises to low-slung homes. The company didn’t say much about the layoffs, referring to it as a “strategic decision.”

Veev recently told lenders that it couldn’t make interest payments on California property acquisitions financed through debt, blaming the economic environment and declining real estate prices in the state. The company has stopped making those payments until the assets are sold.

It’s another blow for Haller, who shut down online home-selling site Reali last year, blaming real estate and financial market conditions, as well as an “unfavorable capital-raising environment.” The company, which raised $250 million in August 2021, laid off 140 people when it shut down.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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