The team at Outer Labs is a diverse mix of software engineers, architects, strategists, and AI/machine learning specialists. Their varied expertise is united by a common passion: leveraging technology to transform the housing industry. The California-based company has spent the last six years developing bespoke software that helps corporate companies scale their real estate development. Now, they are extending their expertise into residential housing with a technology platform that helps maximize deal potential, protect project margins, and accelerate development.
The story behind the company’s evolution is a personal one. Outer Labs’ CEO, Jen Carlile, grew up in the housing industry. Her father worked for a small residential home builder in Seattle, where she saw the impact that housing can have on the well-being of individuals, communities, and cities. This experience led her to pursue a career in technology to address the opportunity areas in the building process and create greater efficiencies, resulting in improved outcomes for developers, builders, and homeowners. This mission-driven philosophy is shared by the rest of the Outer Labs team, each member bringing their own unique background and insights to contribute to their collective work.
We first met three members of the Outer Labs team at the Let’s Build Portland event in May. Co-founder Gulshan Arora; Vice President of Operations Agnessa Todorova; and Director of Business Development Sonal Goldstein were instrumental in the day’s success. They are now leading one of the summit’s four collaborative working groups to create a tool that identifies the availability and readiness of developable homebuilding sites. “When we heard (MMHF Board Member) Abisha Stone share her personal experience with accessing affordable housing, and how it has shaped the mission aspect of her work, we all had tears in our eyes. These personal stories motivate and energize the work we do,” said Todorova.
Outer Labs’ current initiative aims to incorporate data, AI, and technology to enhance the efficiency of housing development – end to end. This approach is rooted in evidence-based design, which is the process of constructing a building or physical environment based on data, experience, and scientific research to achieve the best possible outcome. Outer Labs’ product for real estate developers aims to achieve three primary outcomes: 1) unlock access to capital, 2) maximize deal potential, and 3) ensure project margins are protected. All three of these are served by the creation of a living pro forma that rapidly and efficiently incorporates data from various sources, like building and zoning codes, and utilizes AI to predict potential hurdles, such as community challenges, that might derail a project in the long term.
The company is piloting their product with developers as the primary end-user and is actively looking for partners to test and optimize it in use cases. Outer Labs is also seeking funding to optimize product development further. “We want to enable developers to pair expertise and intuition with information so that they can achieve more within the constraints of their budget,” said Todorova. Outer Labs believes this tool will help developers make more informed decisions about where to build and how to scale profitably, accelerating the number of units built. If you are interested in learning more or becoming a collaborator, you can follow them on LinkedIn, sign up for their newsletter, or reach out at hello@outerlabs.io.
In the next three to five years, the company is excited to see how their tool can continue to improve processes throughout the home building and home ownership journey. The software has the potential to address end-to-end efficiency, from the sale of a home to simplifying homeownership for buyers. Whatever the future may hold, Outer Labs is poised to deliver a tool today that can reduce the risk and uncertainty associated with home development, contributing to another step forward in addressing our housing underproduction crisis.
Kommentare