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Roughly a year after securing $53 million in a Series B round of funding, Durham, North Carolina-based construction technology company Higharc has delivered a new range of features to its homebuilding visualization solution, Inman learned in a Feb. 13 statement.
The company said it would apply a lot of that funding to developing new and enhancing existing products. Now, it’s announcing Higharc AI, an upgrade to enable design teams to more quickly complete conceptual home designs and 3D presentations.
Backed by machine learning, the software “analyzes and transforms any drawing, sketch, or floor plan image into a full 3D model online” the release stated. The technology is being deployed in Higharc’s AutoLayout application and will be fully integrated with other products in the platform’s ecosystem.
“Every year, homebuilders across the U.S. waste weeks or months updating CAD files in decades-old software to get the critical things they need to run operations and sell their product to buyers,” said Marc Minor, CEO and co-founder of Higharc, in a statement. “We want to help builders dramatically accelerate their product development with Higharc AI and enable the automatic generation of assets such as 3D models, master plan sets, material estimates, and an online buyer showroom.”
The software translates flat drawings and floorplans into fully realized 3D models and understands that certain features equate to room types, meaning it can identify a large first-floor space as a family room or that an island indicates a kitchen. It automatically labels room dimensions, doors, windows and fixtures.
It can connect a 3D plan to a cost estimate, critical construction documents and marketing collateral.
Upon its Series B in 2024, Minor said Higharc’s ability to surpass antiquated construction planning and rendering systems can help the industry move faster to fill the nation’s housing inventory gaps, a major — if not the biggest — drag on the real estate market.
“Higharc exists to serve the hardworking teams who build homes across America — they’ve been stuck using 40-year-old software that wasn’t designed with their needs in mind, and they deserve better,” he said in 2024.
Higharc enables buyers to configure new homes much faster, dramatically speeding up the builder’s ability to get these homes to market. Changes can be implemented in less time, materials ordered more efficiently and workers on the ground become better informed.
Case studies of Higharc’s benefits have shown “homebuilders being able to bring new communities to market up to three times faster, cutting 90 days from the design cycle, a 75 percent reduction,” the company said.
Ryan Young is director of architecture at Highland Homes, a large builder in Texas. He said in a statement that Higharc’s software has the “potential to transform our operations.”
“With Higharc’s AI, we could strategically respond faster to market demands and deliver visually engaging designs for our buyers with unmatched speed. This collaboration could be a win-win for both our team and our customers,” Young said.
A number of new companies have emerged of late to technologically empower homebuilders. In 2024, Austin-based new home construction search portal JOME landed a Series A round of funding in the amount of $9.8 million and Welcome Homes, which launched in 2021, secured $29 million in 2023.
The pace of new home sales picked up in 2024 but still remains unable to wiggle free of a stuck market. Last year was one of the least active since 1995.
