Big money for Katerra

SoftBank Group Corp. led an $865 million investment in Katerra, a little-known Menlo Park construction-technology startup seeking to shake up the building industry.

Katerra’s valuation is now more than $3 billion, said Michael Marks, the chairman and co-founder. He said the company has about $1.3 billion in bookings for new construction projects.

The investment is the sixth biggest for a U.S. venture-backed company in the past year, according to data from research firm CB Insights. In addition to SoftBank’s Vision Fund, new investors include a fund overseen by Soros Fund Management, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Tavistock Group, and real estate investment funds Navitas Capital and Divco West. Jeffrey Housenbold, a managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, will join Katerra’s board.

The Vision Fund, with a $100 billion target, has taken stakes in scores of companies over the past year, including Uber, Slack, WeWork and Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing.

Marks founded Katerra with Jim Davidson, a founder of private-equity firm Silver Lake, and Fritz Wolff, executive chairman of a real-estate investment company. Katerra’s goal is to help build construction projects faster and at lower costs by controlling all aspects of the process from design through construction.

Materials are meant to arrive at building sites only when they’re needed and are ready to assemble.