Finding cheaper, more sustainable ways to build has been the long-standing mission for Atlanta startup cove.tool. Now, demand for its software could reach new heights with the soon-to-pass$369 billion climate bill.
“There's never been a bill that talks about meeting updated energy codes and providing cities and counties with funding to meet those codes,” said Sandeep Ahuja, a cove.tool co-founder. “People are going to need rapid democratization and rapid change in their process.”
Following the U.S. Senate's passage Aug. 7 of the Inflation Reduction Act, an ambitious economic package aimed at combating climate change, builders will be looking for ways to keep their budgets in line while still meeting reduced energy targets. Once Vice President Kamala Harris broke the 50-50 tied vote in the Senate, the bill moved to the House of Representatives, which are likely to pass the legislation Friday and then send to President Joe Biden to sign into law.
This would be good news for cove.tool, which was founded in 2018 and provides software to help builders find the cheapest products to use for structures in order to be more energy efficient. Cove.tool says its platform offset 28.5 million tons of carbon in 2021.
Buildings and construction make up about 37% of global carbon emissions, according to the UN Environment Programme's Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction. The proposed legislation's impacts on the construction industry include:
- $1 billion allocated to upgrade building energy codes;
- $3 billion to build clean vehicle manufacturing facilities;
- $2 billion to reconstruct existing auto manufacturing facilities;
- $1 billion to improve energy efficiency of affordable housing;
- $250 million to convert federal buildings into “high-performance green buildings.”
Cove.tool expands
Prior to this proposed sweeping legislation, cove.tool was already gearing up for growth. In December, it raised $30 million, led by Global investment firm Coatue Management LLC with participation from Robert Downey Jr.'s FootPrint Coalition. In 2020, it raised a $5.7 million Series A round led by Mucker Capital.
Over the past year, cove.tool's customer base has more than doubled, Ahuja says, and she expects to do the same this year. Atlanta Inno previously reported the startup had more than 15,000 users in 30 countries, most of which are based in the U.S.
The company recently moved from an office at Centennial Tower to the entire fifth floor of 100 Peachtree Street — formerly known as the Equitable Building. It put the startup beside a number of its customers, including architecture firm PRAXIS3.
The startup's workforce has grown since December from 60 to 75, a number Ahuja hopes to double by next year.
Cove.tool also released some new tools for its users.
“We only had one product suite a year and a half ago that solved engineer and architect problems,” Ahuja said. “Now we have a product suite that connects them to contractors and real estate owners to all be solving their carbon problem, which they couldn't do before.”
