Indonesia sustainable construction start-up raises $10m

The full investor line-up was not disclosed, but Stilt noted that its biggest backer to date is the family office of Christian Hymer, who previously owned Germany’s leading supplier of motor homes. Hymer first backed the company in 2021, a year after its first prototypes were launched.

On ending his tenure at e-commerce platform Lazada in 2018, Florian Holm wanted to build a product and brand. He ended up building prefabricated homes that blend in seamlessly with nature and cause no harm to it. “Leaving Lazada, I was enticed by something less about innovation,” he told AVCJ in 2020. “And the way things are built here is pretty much the same as 50 years ago.”

Holm teamed up Alexis Dornier, a German-born and Bali-based architect, and within 12 months they had three resort projects underway in Bali, serving as designer and operator. The start-up also won several design-only commissions across Indonesia.

Stilt employs a modular home system – likened to stacking Lego bricks – that makes it possible to configure a variety of cabins, studios, and multi-storey family homes. Made of locally sourced wood, the buildings have an embedded carbon footprint (calculated by combining emissions from materials and the construction process) at least 50% smaller than comparable conventional buildings.

The modular system also reduces installation time per house from a year or more to 1-2 months, while construction noise is minimised. “With my background in motor homes – a type of modular home – I was impressed by Florian’s thinking, his process, the scalability, and the sustainability aspect of the design which does not require a large foundation,” Hymer said in a statement.

Stilt has built more than 50 houses, completing four-fifths of them in the past 12 months. It is currently working on its largest project to date, a residential development comprising 25 family villas, and a first commercial office building is in the planning stages. The company has been profitable since 2022.

The three resorts Stilt operates – now under the management of sister company Grün – were intended to showcase the quality and versatility of the modular system, while hospitality-friendly Baili served as a helpful incubation ground. Since then, Stilt has received about 1,000 inbound enquiries not only from Indonesia, but also from Europe, Australia, and the US.

The first build in Australia is scheduled to begin later this year, and the new capital will support international expansion. Stilt will also invest in platform development and in artificial intelligence (AI) and smart home capabilities. Specifically, the company wants to improve its customer-facing platform, which includes embedding AI into the customer experience.

“AI-generated walk-throughs, which let you configure and virtually explore your dream home, or resort, are a realistic scenario in the near future. And we have the scalable platform behind it to build these designs,” said Holm. “Bringing AI into the design process and combining it with efficient, modular production will make high-quality homes much more affordable.”

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Real estate
• Early-stage
• Cleantech
• Indonesia
• Cleantech