Cascade, a startup developing a platform that assists architecture, engineering, and construction firms in locating and securing projects, has raised a $3.5 million seed round backed by Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun, Ada Ventures, and Snowball VC.

Founded in 2025, Cascade emerged after its creators, Hannia Zia and Joana Ferreira, observed the challenges construction businesses encounter when trying to reliably obtain new work.

Ferreira noted that her mother supplied materials to construction companies while her uncle constructed mansions in the Middle East. Both excelled in their fields yet lacked effective tools for expanding their opportunities. Zia shared how her father struggled to launch a construction venture in Pakistan because he could not secure sufficient projects to keep the business viable.

Zia characterizes the existing method of sourcing construction projects as an ongoing search across numerous disconnected systems. Companies must access separate portals for every U.S. state, city, district, county, and federal agency. This fragmentation makes it especially difficult for specialists, such as those focused on suspension bridges, to identify relevant opportunities.

Cascade addresses these issues by monitoring current and future projects while analyzing historical tender information to forecast which developers are positioned to win contracts.

Once a firm joins the platform, Cascade applies AI to identify projects with the highest likelihood of success. It also anticipates upcoming opportunities by aggregating signals from state, local, private, and federal sources. For instance, when a state reveals a $100 million affordable housing grant, the system reviews prior winners to guide outreach.

Ferreira explained that the platform connects these insights and advises clients on the developers most likely to receive new grants, encouraging early engagement to pursue subcontracts.

The founders joined a16z Speedrun last September. The program intensity and exposure to other talented entrepreneurs enabled them to secure agreements with companies involved in projects such as JFK and LaGuardia airports, Four Seasons hotels, and data centers. Zia credited the accelerator with providing credibility that facilitated major contracts.

The new capital will support market expansion, industry events, and additional engineering hires.

Competitors such as GovWin IQ and ConstructConnect operate in the same space, yet Ferreira positions Cascade as more deeply integrated with AI capabilities that improve through customer feedback on won bids.