Inman

More modular? Dvele secures $15M to power up robotic construction

Factory-made housing is gaining traction with companies such as Veev, Boxable and now Dvele,  breaking down its stigmas.

Dvele builds its homes largely through robotic automation in a Loma Linda, California factory, which is poised to be empowered by $15 million in venture capital provided by Crescent and national window and door manufacturer Marvin.

The company is creating a vertical, online home ordering solution.

“Refining our production cycle will allow us to swiftly scale our services in states across the US by implementing our data-driven, end-to-end solution for the home-buying experience,” said co-founder and CEO of Dvele Kurt Goodjohn in a press statement.

Each order starts with personalizing a home online, followed by production in Dvele’s offsite smart factory and lastly delivery and completion of the modules on-site.

Dvele homes are being deployed in one northern California resort town to create an adventure-minded second home destination.

At Village Camp Truckee, currently under development with one Dvele model home available to rent, Roberts Resorts is turning a one-time RV campsite into an all-season, fully managed vacation community. Buyers can secure a luxury Dvele cabin for use at will and when not visiting, leverage on-site management for short-term renting. Truckee is a popular ski town and became a sought-after pandemic destination for the Bay Area’s remote technology workforce.

The pre-fab homes are run with a sustainably-minded internal system, DveleIQ, that controls heating and cooling, monitors power usage and actively determines optimal energy output using more than 200 sensors embedded throughout the home. This also means the home can “adapt” to the habits of its most frequent occupants.

Homes built by the company are self-powered or grid-independent, meaning they run on batteries from on-base solar panels and long-term power storage. This means that even in sustained cloudy periods or throughout multi-day storms, a Dvele home can keep its occupants comfortable.

Dvele has an array of home styles available from the 3,523-square-foot Trinity to the 888-square-foot Angora Modern Cottage. All customization for each floor plan is done via its web-based ordering system, which will be expanded by the most recent funding.

“This data-driven production process will convert lead flow directly into the company’s proprietary design and smart factory system where automated machines produce each home seamlessly in parallel to creating purchase orders, controlling inventory, and generating work instructions,” the company said.

Email Craig Rowe