Generate
3 known investors
Generate offers a generative design platform and expert services that convert architectural concepts into optimized, quotable mass timber building systems, aiming to speed up design, engineering, and quoting. It serves architects, engineers, and estimators, connecting projects to manufacturers and installers in the construction industry.
Also known as Generate Design
Founders & leadership
Investors · 3
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Generate operates a preconstruction service built around a proprietary "generative optioneering" platform that converts architectural drawings into optimized 3D hybrid mass timber designs ready for quoting. Rather than selling software licenses, the company positions itself as an embedded partner: its mass timber specialists work alongside a project team to produce models, takeoffs, pricing and project data on a timescale the company describes as days rather than months. The stated approach follows Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) principles, combining design, engineering and fabrication considerations to reduce rework and late-stage value engineering.
The engagement follows three stages the company labels Discover, Design and Deliver: reviewing a digital catalog of products and building systems, generating optimized mass timber design options, and connecting the project to manufacturers and installers for quotes. Generate states it remains involved from concept through construction, supporting programming, massing and framing strategies, system and supply-chain optioneering, and coordination and fabrication support as models advance. Deliverables are not paywalled: while the software is proprietary, clients receive a private web link plus downloadable IFC models, takeoffs and project data that can be shared across the full project team.
The company frames its vision as building an "operating system for intelligent construction," delivering code-, cost- and carbon-aware mass timber solutions. Named team members include John Klein (CEO, architecture and construction), Ethan Martin (Project Director, engineering and code), Taylor Stevens (Project Manager, digital design and delivery) and John Fechtel (Technology Director, data and technology).
Founding story
The company was born out of MIT's Mass Timber Design Lab, combining building-system expertise with generative design technology to change how projects move from concept to construction.
Business model
Generate sells a service rather than a software subscription: it embeds as a preconstruction partner on a project and delivers mass timber design models, pricing and insights. Typically a single stakeholder engages and funds the work on behalf of the wider project team, though in some cases multiple partners split the cost, and deliverables are shared openly with all stakeholders including architects, engineers, contractors and the supply chain. Entry is offered via a free project review session with the company's experts.
Fee-based engagements funded by one or more project stakeholders for preconstruction design, optioneering and quoting support, rather than paid software licensing; outputs (web-viewable models, IFC files, takeoffs, project data) are provided without paywalls.
Traction
The company's site reports figures for 2025 covering reduction in mass timber preconstruction effort, number of projects processed and total square footage generated across sectors, though the numeric values are not legible in the published page. Named users and referees include New Land Enterprises / Timber Partners, CSA Engineering, Stack + CO and Skanska.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, history
Market position
Positions itself as an independent, integrated preconstruction platform for hybrid mass timber, contrasted with platforms tied to specific manufacturers or product lines, and aiming to serve as connective infrastructure between design, manufacturing and delivery in construction.
Generate describes itself as manufacturer-independent: it compares systems across suppliers to drive competitive pricing rather than optimizing structure for a single vendor's product line. It also claims scope beyond member sizing — configuring full buildings including layout, envelope, pricing and constructability — and delivers outcomes as a service instead of requiring clients to adopt new software. Clients working with a preferred manufacturer can still have that system assessed within the broader project context.
Technology
A proprietary generative design ("generative optioneering") platform that automates conversion of architectural drawings into optimized 3D mass timber structural and building-system models with associated takeoffs and pricing data. It draws on a digital catalog of mass timber products and systems and outputs interoperable IFC models plus project data via a private web link. The company describes its origins in MIT's Mass Timber Design Lab.
Go-to-market
Direct engagement with project teams, beginning with a free project review session, and positioning as an extension of the client's in-house team rather than a tool they must learn. The site cites use by firms and individuals including New Land Enterprises / Timber Partners, CSA Engineering, Stack + CO and Skanska's mass timber group.
Developers, architects, structural engineers, general contractors/builders, estimators and mass timber manufacturers. The company says it selects work by ideal project profile — projects where early collaboration and generative design add the most value — rather than by a single client type.
History
Generate emerged from MIT's Mass Timber Design Lab and has been backed by the National Science Foundation's Deep Tech Fund. Its published performance statistics reference activity during 2025.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 1
launches, deals, and filingsGenerate states it is backed by the National Science Foundation's Deep Tech Fund, alongside origins in MIT's Mass Timber Design Lab.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Generategenerate.design · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Generate do?
- Generate turns architectural concepts into optimized, quotable mass timber building systems using generative design software and expert services.
- Who are Generate's investors?
- Generate's investors include Great Wave Ventures, Moxxie Ventures, Voyager Partners.