C.Scale Raises $2 Million Pre-Seed to Expand AI Platform for Low-Carbon Building Materials
C.Scale, a San Francisco-based climate tech startup developing an AI/ML-powered platform to connect supply and demand for low-carbon building materials, has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding as it seeks to accelerate adoption of sustainable materials and streamline procurement in the construction industry. The funding, announced in early November 2025, will support product development, scaling of operations and broader market penetration of the company’s predictive platform that helps architects, engineers and manufacturers make data-driven decisions to reduce embodied carbon in building projects.
The pre-seed round was co-led by Active Impact Investments and Wireframe Ventures, two early-stage venture investors focused on environmental impact and technology innovation. These lead investors were joined by participation from Axiom and Tetrad VC, along with angel investor Bas Godska, founder of Acrobator Ventures and a seasoned backer of SaaS companies. The investor group reflects a shared belief in C.Scale’s mission to use advanced analytics and machine learning to redefine how low-carbon materials are specified and sourced in a fragmented $1 trillion building materials market.
C.Scale was founded in 2024 by Jack Rusk and Brad Jacobson, who incubated the core technology at renowned architecture firm EHDD before spinning out the company as an independent Public Benefit Corporation. The platform is designed to address longstanding inefficiencies in the construction supply chain by enabling project teams to evaluate building materials early in the planning and design process, taking into account whole-life carbon impacts and performance criteria that are increasingly demanded by regulation and owners.
The startup’s AI/ML-driven tools help architects and designers assess the environmental performance of materials and systems from the earliest project phases — providing insights that can influence specification decisions and accelerate low-carbon outcomes. For manufacturers, the platform provides a flow of high-quality leads by tracking detailed material quantities and carbon performance requirements as they emerge in design workflows, creating a marketplace that connects product suppliers with qualified buyers at the point of specification.
In the six months leading up to the funding announcement, C.Scale’s platform was used to model more than 1,200 projects, representing over 120 million square feet of construction. The company’s early traction includes adoption by two of the top three largest architecture firms in North America and nine firms that have received the American Institute of Architects Firm Award. Additionally, global corporations such as Autodesk and Schneider Electric are integrating C.Scale into their products and platforms, and Stanford University has piloted the platform to align campus planning and procurement with long-term sustainability commitments.
The $2 million pre-seed investment builds on an earlier $350,000 pre-seed round from angel investor Teimuraz Jashi, the Georgian Business Angel Network (Axel) and 500 Eurasia, which helped the founders develop the company’s core AI technology and validate its product in the market. With the latest round, C.Scale is positioned to expand its engineering team, refine its machine learning models, and accelerate customer growth across the architecture, engineering and construction ecosystem.
Investors have cited the strength of C.Scale’s data-driven approach to embodied carbon analysis and its potential to transform a traditionally manual, data-scarce process as key reasons for backing the company. Active Impact Investments views the platform as infrastructure that can transform how the industry operates, while Wireframe Ventures has highlighted the scalable nature of embedding intelligence directly into architects’ design workflows. Axiom and Tetrad VC bring additional early-stage expertise to support C.Scale’s growth trajectory, and angel contributor Bas Godska adds SaaS experience to the investor mix.
The company’s emergence reflects broader trends in climate tech and sustainable construction, where demand for tools that provide actionable carbon insights and accelerate low-carbon decision-making is rising. As sustainability becomes a core criterion for building owners and designers, solutions like C.Scale aim to democratize access to predictive carbon analytics that were historically confined to specialized consultants or bespoke tools.
With the new funding, C.Scale plans to deepen its footprint within North America and explore international opportunities, expand its supplier network and enhance its life-cycle assessment capabilities to support evolving climate regulations and sustainability goals. By connecting manufacturers and designers around shared data and insights, the startup aims to reduce industry barriers and accelerate the shift toward low-carbon construction practices across the built environment.
