U.S. Bank adds Built to manage construction loan activity

U.S. Bank has turned to Built Technologies, which provides technology for real estate and construction finance, to help manage its portion of this process.

The bank says it will be able to fund projects faster as well as give clients real-time visibility into each step in the construction process and the related financing.

"Our investor and developer clients in the homebuilding sector expect a streamlined, transparent lending experience," said Suzanne Rathbun, lending services group manager at U.S. Bank. "With one connected platform, we're delivering faster access to funds and real-time visibility into every draw, so they can keep projects on track."

Last November, Built unveiled Draw Agent, agentic artificial intelligence technology designed to manage this process.

For customers, once U.S. Bank activates the transaction in Built, they will be notified they have the option to sign in to the system. It gives the borrower a single location to manage draws, inspections and communications between the parties.

The platform takes manual work required with construction loans out of the process.

Built said the benefits of its technology include:

• Accelerated funding: Improve draw times by up to 70%.
• Borrower Experience: Platform with on-demand access to information and actions.
• Real-time insight: Instant access to budgets, inspection reports, and project updates.
• Automated workflows: Standardized processes and automations to reduce manual work.
• Scalable capacity: Greater control to manage more projects while maintaining compliance.

"U.S. Bank is aligning their construction lending teams and clients around a more connected operating model," said Scott Traina, general manager of Built's lender business unit. "When lenders, builders, and borrowers operate from the same system, capital moves more predictably and projects stay on track."
Built Technologies has completed seven rounds of financing since 2017 for a total of $312.7 million, according to data from Crunchbase. The most recent was a venture round of an undetermined amount led by Citi in April 2023.

Before then, it did a private equity round of $23.9 million in July 2022, plus two in 2021: A Series D of $125 million and a Series C of $88 million.

If the administration has its way, overall construction financing volume could increase significantly.

In March, President Trump signed an executive order looking to reduce or remove "regulatory barriers to home construction."

This followed the Federal Housing Finance Agency looking to get Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac more active in construction lending.

However, a proposal in the Senate's 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to limit large investor ownership of built-to-rent properties has some feeling it would be a constraint on new construction.