NEW YORK – Soil Connect, announced the closing of its $3.25 million seed funding round led by TIA Ventures, a New York City-based seed-stage fund. Heartland Ventures co-led the round, which also included investments from a diverse mix of venture capital firms, real estate managers and construction companies, including CEMEX Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Situs Real Estate, Altmark Group, AB Investment Group, J.G. Pertucci Company and Bazella Contracting.
In conjunction with the funding, Soil Connect launched an e-ticketing service.
“As a third-generation builder and developer, the most frustrating part of the job for me was how I continually saw technology change the game for other sectors but bypass the soil and aggregates industry,” said Cliff Fetner, founder and CEO of Soil Connect. “Our goal in launching Soil Connect is not just to create a marketplace, it is to establish the first pure-play one-stop shop for the industry. Making it easier for these individuals to find or dispose of materials was a critical first step, and the e-ticketing function takes it to the next level, further integrating the platform and advancing our objective of supporting the entire transaction from end to end. It’s also entirely contactless – an important attribute during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The closing of the seed round comes shortly after Soil Connect announced a series of strategic hires to further grow the marketplace’s capabilities, including Jonathan Alvarado as chief growth officer and Berkay Sebat as head of mobile. The platform will use the proceeds to continue building out its team and to introduce new enhancements and features, including a regulatory component that will allow users to keep track of materials from origination to destination.
“The diverse make-up of the investors in the seed round is a clear reflection of the uniqueness of Soil Connect’s value proposition as well as the compelling market opportunity for a marketplace of this type, which is solving for a significant need in the industry,” said Daniel Fetner, co-founder and advisor to Soil Connect, and principal at Alpaca VC.
Construction professionals interested in transacting on Soil Connect can create a profile by visiting www.soilconnect.com.