LightTable is developing artificial intelligence \u2014 for developers.<\/p>\n
The Denver startup, founded in 2024, announced its first round of funding last month, saying it raised $6 million. Co-founder Paul Zeckser said his software helps developers clean up errors more quickly and accurately than the current process, which entails sending construction plans out to third-party reviewers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe peer review process takes weeks and weeks, and sometimes more than a month,\u201d said Zeckser, who is LightTable\u2019s CEO. \u201cWe can do it in 30 minutes. It\u2019s faster and better and we can deliver this at a lower cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
Developers upload their site plans and LightTable\u2019s AI agent does the rest. The software currently catches between 60% and 65% of all errors, which include anything from discrepancies to mismeasurements, according to Zeckser. A year from now, he said, it\u2019ll catch around 90% of errors.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a big difference from where the market is today, he said. If a developer plugs plans into ChatGPT or another widely available chatbot, Zeckser said it might catch up to 15% of the problems. With current peer review, that number is around 50%.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s not a function of expertise,\u201d Zeckser noted of the human process. \u201cIt\u2019s a function of how voluminous, how massive these construction documents are.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey could be a couple thousand pages filled with hundreds of hundreds of drawings,\u201d he said of the packages. \u201cWith weeks or months to review everything, it\u2019s just impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, LightTable has analyzed 2.5 million square feet across 50 projects, including apartment buildings and retail. By the end of the year, Zeckser expects that number to sit around 10 million, with hospitals, data centers and labs added to the fold.<\/p>\n
Zeckser said LightTable is working with two of the biggest multifamily developers in the country, including Florida-based Mill Creek Residential. Clients pay a price per square foot on each individual project.<\/p>\n
Zeckser estimated that 5% to 7% of the total cost of development goes to fixing errors made in plans.<\/p>\n
Between the time and money saved, he said he believes LightTable\u2019s value speaks for itself. He compared it with manufacturing and services industries switching from manual quality assurance to an automated process.<\/p>\n