Mighty Buildings, the Oakland-based additive construction (AC) company specializing in making zero-net-energy prefabs, has announced that the company is up for sale.The company is working with Rock Creek Advisors, a New Jersey-based financial services firm, to facilitate the sale.Mighty Buildings’ Chief People, Legal & Business Operations Officer, Jennifer A.Farley, announced the sale in a LinkedIn post:“This is an incredible opportunity for strategic investors to continue the journey of revolutionizing the sustainable resilient building landscape,” Farley wrote.
“To prepare for a sale, a restructuring took place resulting in proven talent looking for work.If you are looking to hire talented professionals in operations, supply chain, sales, engineering (structural & mechanical), quality, architecture, material science, finance, legal or HR in the US, Mexico or Europe, please let me know, and I would be happy to make the connections.”Concerning the sale itself, Rock Creek Advisors noted, also in a LinkedIn post, “Mighty Buildings’ innovative approach positions it to capitalize on the massive demand in the global housing market while leading the shift toward sustainable building solutions.Final Term Sheet Deadline: Friday, February 14th, 2025, 5pm ET (4-week process)While the Company may give preference to all-cash bids, Rock Creek will consider all types of consideration.We require an executed Confidentiality Agreement to provide access to a Confidential electronic data room with more Company information.”The Mighty Buildings announcement comes amid what looks like a broader restructuring in the AC space.
Texas-based ICON, a leader in 3D printing homes on-site, recently announced that it will lay off about 25 percent of its workers in March, while Arizona’s Diamond Age is liquidating its assets.Diamond Age, readers may recall, was working with leading homebuilder Century Communities to 3D print a housing tract using a variety of robotic end-of-arm tools.At the same time, AC companies continue to demonstrate their capacity to make positive social impact.ICON recently announced that the company plans to build homes for Austin’s unhoused community, and researchers at Virginia Tech won a $1.1 million grant in November 2024 that will enable them to work with commercial homebuilders to demonstrate 3D printing’s potential to reduce construction costs.Media interest surrounding 3D printed homes generally falls into those sorts of categories, with countless stories bearing the title “Can 3D Printing Solve the Housing Crisis?” churned out over the last few years.
While the market’s financial struggles certainly may damper some of that excitement in the near future, restructuring is a necessary stop on the long-term path to profitability for emerging businesses, and one that is especially common for an industry reliant on developing deep-tech solutions in parallel with its movement towards commercialization.Especially in a global context where natural disasters will keep increasing the urgency to create new housing, the services that AC companies can provide would seem poised to be in higher demand than ever.For its part, Mighty Buildings has built “the world’s first 3D-printed net-zero community”, in Desert Hot Springs, CA, which means the company has firsthand experience that could obviously help save many peoples’ lives right now.As for what AC companies need in order to deliver on their promise, I think that, just like in the broader additive manufacturing industry — and even more pressingly due to the unique regulatory requirements faced by homebuilders — the AC industry could use more policy certainty and financial support from public institutions and major corporations.The government and big business can’t, and shouldn’t, solve every problem, but housing is one area where society’s most powerful institutions should be expected to make success easier to achieve for new enterprises.
Whatever the ups and downs of a specific marketplace, automated homebuilding remains a generational opportunity that society can’t afford to neglect.Images courtesy of Mighty BuildingsSubscribe to Our Email NewsletterStay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.
