Every construction project in America – from a bathroom renovation to a new skyscraper – requires permits. And when you ask anyone involved in the process, they’ll reply similarly: permitting is cumbersome, inefficient, and broken. 

Traditional construction permitting processes require complex applications and unpredictable timelines that wreak havoc on schedules and bottom lines for builders, developers, and business owners – not to mention residents and surrounding communities. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened an already untenable situation, creating application backlogs that cost local economies tens of billions of dollars each year.

But the pandemic was also an opportunity, and it proved to be a turning point for those paying attention. The sheer scope of the problem mixed with a necessary shift to digital workflows during the time of social distancing opened the door to finally modernize the permitting process, and from this moment GreenLite was born.

GreenLite is a construction technology company making permitting faster and more predictable for builders, developers, and municipalities. 53 Stations is pleased to have participated in their $28.5 million Series A round, announced yesterday, alongside lead Craft Ventures, Trust Ventures, and LiveOak Ventures.

Through our deep involvement in the Built World economy, 53 Stations and The Pritzker Organization (TPO) teams have seen firsthand how the bureaucracy and inefficiencies surrounding permitting can delay enterprise. By addressing a critical bottleneck in the construction process—the lengthy and unpredictable permitting timeline—GreenLite is enabling companies of all sizes to complete projects more efficiently and profitably.

Co-founders James Gallagher and Ben Allen have also seen this problem first hand. At GoPuff, they built the Gopuff Kitchens business unit from the ground up, hyper-scaling in more than 70 US metros in less than a year, navigating permitting hurdles at every destination. At 53 Stations, we seek and are fortunate to partner with founders who intimately understand the challenges they are addressing. And beyond their first-hand knowledge, James and Ben impressed us with their clarity of vision, eye towards long-term sustainable growth, and incredible commitment to fostering a scalable company culture that mentors and empowers individuals to lead.

Additionally, we were drawn to the significant near-term market opportunity, the strong value GreenLite is already delivering to customers like Cushman & Wakefield, Chick-fil-A and Domino’s Pizza, and the extensive list of product differentiators they’ve introduced early in their company’s growth. GreenLite’s software-enabled Private Plan Review delivers faster permitting outcomes for customers, reducing the time to permit approval from many months to weeks. This efficiency leads to tangible financial benefits for customers, not only by reducing costs but also by minimizing lost revenue opportunities through faster project starts. As the first software-driven Private Provider in the market, they are deftly partnering with every stakeholder in the process, including developers, builders, service providers, and governments, with the ultimate goal of facilitating faster and more predictable builds.

We believe our partnership with GreenLite is well aligned with our strengths, and we’re looking forward to having Jason Pritzker join as a Board Observer. Our Built World expertise via TPO and their portfolio companies, Lithko, STV, and KBP, provides us with unique insights into the construction permitting ecosystem. This experience directly complements GreenLite’s mission to transform the permitting process and enables us to better understand the challenges they are solving and support their growth effectively. 53 Stations aims to support founders where we can provide meaningful value and help accelerate their vision, and we are proud to partner with GreenLite on this journey. 

So let’s get to building.

We welcome conversations with founders in the construction technology space and invite those interested in sharing information about their company to connect with us at 53stations.com/contact.