The Print, Vol. 205

***

Welcome toThe Print, Blueprint's weekly curation of the most important things going on in real estate and construction technology. We hope our newsletter will keep you informed as we shine a light on the newest innovations and opportunities that exist in the built world.

***

QUICK HITS

• Why Industrious's Jamie Hodari is the anti-Adam Neumann of the co-working industry. Industrious’s chief takes slower but steadier approach that shows promise as a new industry standard. (WSJ) 

• A growing list of luxury brands is hoping to use real estate to turn their cultural cachet into cold, hard cash.  Why branded residences are a global phenomenon that's here to stay. (Business Insider) 

• For the last 18 months, proptech companies have been slogging through a frigid funding environment. But the winter of proptech's discontent may be ending. (Bisnow)

• How low do rates need to go to reinvigorate the housing market? Buyer and seller responses vary. (Inman)

• Hoping to lure workers back to their desks, companies are designing “work resorts,” luxe spaces meant to compete with the comforts and versatility of their living room. (NYT)

• Kenon Chen, Clear Capital's strategy and growth EVP. views AI as a chance to improve workplace processes and give employees the tools to innovate. (Business Insider) 

***

RAISES, BUILDS AND TEARDOWNS

• Trunk Tools, which provides automation tools to organize unstructured construction documentation, has closed a $20M Series A funding round. (Techcrunch) 

• The Rounds, a startup that delivers recurring grocery and household essentials in reusable packaging, has raised $24M in a Series B round. (Techcrunch) 

• Infogrid, the building intelligence and analytics company, has acquired Buildings IOT's market-leading adaptive buildings tech. (Press Release)

• Advanced materials manufacturer Fortera has secured $85M in Series C funding to scale the deployment of its low-carbon cement technology. (Press Release)

• Proptech firm VTS has cut 20 percent of its staff in a major round of layoffs for the unicorn company. (Commercial Observer)

• Australian contractor and developer Lendlease is pulling out of international construction markets to change its business model. The impact of that change was reflected in a statutory loss of $1.5B Australian dollars ($1B USD). (Construction Dive)

• Localize, a platform that aimed to simplify home buying through tech and data, is ceasing its U.S. operations. The company has raised about $70M to date. (Calcalist)

• Andes STR, which uses AI to find, purchase, and manage short-term rental properties on behalf of institutional and individual investors, has raised $4M in new funding. (Latam List) 

***

JOB MOVES AND NEW HIRES

• VeriFast has announced a series of executive moves. Bob Hansen is joining VeriFast as a vice president of sales. The company has also promoted team member Jeanne Klein from vice president of sales to senior vice president of sales and Becca Stafford to vice president of operations. (Press Release)