PermitFlow advances building permit automation with $5.5 million in new capital

PermitFlowa San Jose-based startup developing software for developers and general contractors to streamline the building permit application and management process has raised $5.5 million in seed funding.

The round, which closed in January, was led by Initialized Capital and included a group of founders from proptech and building technology companies including PlanGrid, Mighty Buildings, Zillow and Bluebeam.

PermitFlow was founded in 2021 by Sam Lam and Francis Thumpasery, who previously worked with deep workflow software and construction. They designed the company to power the $1.6 trillion construction market with intelligence and software automation.

CEO Thumpasery told businessroundups.org that the permitting process can take years, but that automation is quite on the rise here, with many of the legacy companies working with municipalities or operating as marketplaces for permitting expeditions.

However, the founders did not see these approaches as scalable, opting instead to work with developers and contractors to provide an end-to-end process that helps them save prep time, reduce errors, and increase transparency.

PermitFlow was in beta testing in 2021 and 2022 before launching just over a year ago. It now works with dozens of customers in California, Texas and Florida supporting more than $600 million in product value and more than 2,000 residential units, from single-family homes to multi-family complexes. In addition, the company has 13 employees and sales have more than quadrupled in the past year, Thumpasery said.

The new financing will enable the company to continue with technology development, customer experience and to bring in additional personnel in engineering and operations to support expansion into new geographies. The plan is currently to add metropolitan areas in the three states where PermitFlow already operates.

“We are adding more comprehensive licensing capabilities and automation for our customers just to better serve their needs,” said Thumpasery. “As we scale to meet demand, we want to make sure we maintain a high-quality customer experience.”