Dealflow | November 25, 2020

Factory_OS secures $55 million for better affordable housing design

Roodgally Senatus
ImpactAlpha Editor

Roodgally Senatus

ImpactAlpha, November 25 — Vallejo, Calif.-based Factory_OS is addressing the affordable housing crisis in the San Francisco Bay Area using digital technology to design and build safer, cheaper, and more efficient and sustainable rental properties.

Google, Facebook, Morgan Stanley, Citi and Autodesk participated in the company’s $55 million Series B round, which was led by Lafayette Square Holdings, an impact-focused investment manager.

Factory_OS says it has built nearly 1,000 affordable, student and market-rate units, while cutting construction costs by 20-40%. It will will use the equity funding to expand to Los Angeles, invest in robotics and manufacturing facilities, and open a housing innovation center that focuses on research and education. 

Factory_OS, which employs 500 unionized workers, also provides training programs for women and people of color in partnership with Northern California Carpenters Regional Council.