The latest from 8VC

Architecture and civilization have always been practically synonymous. From one era to the next, the built environment has shaped countless aspects of daily existence, and the architect has become a celebrated figure in the popular imagination. It’s no accident that “architect” can refer to someone responsible for realizing many types of visions, beyond blueprints.

However, the process of architectural design has not fundamentally advanced for generations. Despite a massive industry built around tools like AutoCAD, architects still spend untold hours on repetitive rather than creative tasks, manually drawing walls and lines as in ancient times. Conventional design software, while powerful, has done little to eliminate the tedium. 

Our latest 8VC Build company, Pantheon AI, was born from a simple but powerful insight: if we could dramatically accelerate the iteration cycle between design and documentation, we could unlock not only greater efficiency, but entirely new possibilities in architectural design. Pantheon brings record speed and accuracy to the architectural process, from initial design to construction documents, while using AI augmentation to offer more options than ever before. This enables rapid, highly interactive iteration that even the best traditional architects can’t touch, modernizing the client-architect dynamic while keeping the artist’s eyes on their purpose.

The benefits extend beyond simple speed. By tying into approximated material costs for both commoditized and vendor-specific materials, Pantheon will provide cost estimates throughout the iteration process. This transparency gives clients much-improved visibility into the building taking shape before them, reducing the likelihood of unpleasant surprises deep into a project. 

Pantheon’s combination of technical and architectural design expertise is both unique among architecture firms, and emblematic of the emerging wave of AI services companies. The team brings together exceptional technologists, who built AI systems at Stanford AI Lab, Facebook, Caltech, and IBM Watson, with experienced architects from leading firms like Gensler, SOM, and KPF. The result is that expert architects can unleash more design variations, while creating a powerful feedback loop between themselves, their customers, and their software.

The implications extend far beyond efficiency gains. Better, faster design results in constructing more buildings, creating more functional spaces, at greater cost-effectiveness, to better meet the space demands of a fast-growing society. After starting with offices, Pantheon is expanding into multifamily and other housing types, where innovative solutions are more urgently needed than ever.

After incubating with 8VC Partner Alex Moore, Pantheon has emerged from stealth with $25 million in funding from 8VC, Andreessen Horowitz, Felicis, and others. This is the second time that co-founder and CEO David Mace has chosen to build with us, following our incubation of SwiftScale Biologics, which was acquired by Resilience Bio. David is joined by CTO Tiger Sun, previously of Scale AI and Stanford AI Lab, and Director of Architecture Georgios Kontominas, previously a senior architect at top firms such as SOM.

While Pantheon is one our first AI services plays, they are also a classic 8VC Build company, developed in partnership with exceptional founders to tackle ubiquitous challenges in a major industry. We are excited to support David, Tiger, Georgios, and the Pantheon team as they work to reshape one of humanity’s oldest and most foundational practices. The future of architecture is not just about designing better buildings, but also designing many more of them. With Pantheon, great buildings can stand apart without standing alone.