Anyone who has ever attempted to build something–whether a small business, a real estate project, or even a home renovation–can likely agree on one thing. The current process for understanding and obtaining permits is a nightmare. It’s difficult to understand the requirements, unexpected delays lead to mounting costs, and it’s impossible to know where your application stands. It’s a massive barrier to building that’s mostly outside of your control.

These delays come at great cost to our economy and our cities. Delays in construction permitting cost developers over $40 billion annually and are the number one reason for delayed openings. Plus, delays slow down everything from critical infrastructure updates to building alternative energy sources to starting new restaurants and retail to keeping up with affordable housing demands.

That’s why GreenLite is announcing its national launch to make getting permits fast, predictable, and transparent.

Innovation Inspired by Experience

Greenlite’s team understands permitting challenges firsthand. When co-founders James Gallagher and Ben Allen joined forces to tackle permitting, they brought decades of experience in real estate development, software, and technology. Through their work at companies like GoPuff–where they had the herculean task of opening ghost kitchens in cities across the country–they experienced all of the headaches, cost overruns, and lack of visibility that exists in permitting. James and Ben set out to solve this problem differently by taking every stakeholder involved in this complex process into account to ensure the platform meets their needs as effectively as possible.

According to James, “we believe that building one platform that serves all stakeholders on both sides is crucial to solving this problem. If information lives in silos and everyone involved can’t collaborate seamlessly, the permitting process breaks down.”

“GreenLite, without a doubt, has the best team in the country tackling this problem. We’ve been hyper-focused on assembling a world-class team of mission-driven professionals with deep experience across the AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) industry, technology, and regulatory spaces,” emphasized Ben.

Breaking Open the Permitting “Black Box”

GreenLite’s platform creates transparency and reduces timelines from months to weeks, in some cases saving over a million dollars in lost revenue. It’s a game-changer for architects, engineers, and entrepreneurs.

With GreenLite’s innovative software, customers can collaborate with engineers, architects, contractors, and other stakeholders to keep everyone on the same page. Users can submit for building permits in minutes via a simple, guided platform. GreenLite’s team of experts works to ensure applications are code-compliant, complete, and meet all submission requirements. The team prevents unnecessary delays and serves as a trusted partner to help development teams understand and clarify next steps. The platform also provides real-time updates from a central dashboard. This replaces late-night phone calls, texts, and fragmented emails, giving customers more predictability in forecasting when they can open their doors.

Today, GreenLite partners with local and state government agencies across the country to conduct plan reviews directly on behalf of local governments, allowing overwhelmed government agencies to outsource and enabling faster openings. They support customers nationwide, including global retailers, franchises, EV charging networks, small businesses, and quick-service restaurant brands.

Chick-fil-A, one of GreenLite’s earliest customers, had experienced construction permitting timelines that ranged from six to twelve months in 2022. GreenLite was able to drive construction permitting timelines to weeks.

What’s Next for GreenLite

To support their public launch, they’ve raised $8 million in funding. They’ll use the funds to build out their go-to-market team, hone their software and services platform, and expand to new markets across the US. GreenLite is also partnering with advocates and local and state governments to pave the way for private plan review, which can reduce pressure on government agencies, and get permits done faster and more effectively.

Trust is proud to support Greenlite in their mission to streamline permitting, advocate for better policy, and transform how our cities develop, build, and prosper. We’re excited to see how they can help bring more affordable housing, more business growth, and more economic development coast to coast.

How you can support GreenLite:

• Do you have a project that could benefit from an accelerated permitting timeline? Visit their website or email sales@greenlite.com.
• Repost their fundraising announcement to your network.

About Trust Ventures

We’re a venture capital fund focused on removing barriers that keep innovators and entrepreneurs from bringing life-changing ideas to market that can transform some of the largest industries and solve massive social challenges. We help our portfolio companies address outdated and incumbent-driven regulatory barriers. Through our work we’ve helped our portfolio companies secure unprecedented regulatory clearances and change state and federal laws, unlocking access to their innovations for hundreds of millions of Americans.

Watch our video or visit our website to learn more.