Shackleton AI lands USD $5 million for construction platform

Shackleton AI has emerged from stealth with a construction software platform and a USD $5 million seed round led by Battery Ventures. Its system already manages more than USD $1 billion in project value across more than 15 US states.

The New York-based company is targeting a segment of the construction market where project information is often spread across separate tools for bidding, documents, scheduling and finance. Its software brings those workflows into one platform and uses AI agents to handle administrative tasks such as drafting requests for information, chasing overdue submittals, monitoring budgets and turning field notes into daily reports.

The round also included Brick & Mortar Ventures, Trust Ventures, Correlation Ventures, Motivate Partners, Thayer Investment Partners, Act One Ventures, Brainstorm Ventures and Silence VC.

Founders' background

Shackleton AI was founded by Michael Ragheb, Hassan Yasin and Olexandr Kaltsev. Before starting the company, they built Ernest, a tech-enabled commercial general contractor, to USD $35 million in annual revenue in the south-eastern United States.

That operating experience shaped the product. Construction teams often juggle seven to 10 different systems, and Shackleton AI argues that project staff can spend 10 to 15 hours a week on data entry and other administrative work.

Ragheb described the problem in practical terms.

"I was spending more time moving data between systems than running my jobs at Ernest. Once we saw how much this was costing us, and how many other builders were dealing with the same problem, we knew we had to start from scratch and bring everything into one place. Every hour a project manager spends chasing status across disconnected tools is margin lost. When everything lives in one place, projects move faster, teams spend less time on administrative work and projects cost less. With Shackleton, multi-location customers have completed buildouts up to 35% ahead of schedule and as much as 18% under budget," said Michael Ragheb, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Shackleton AI.

Construction focus

The platform launched in June and now works with midsize general contractors in multifamily, industrial and commercial construction, as well as multi-location brands including Red Lobster, Dog Haus and Pepper Lunch.

Its software is designed to cover work from site selection and bidding through project turnover. Rather than focusing on a single construction application, Shackleton AI says its agents operate across shared project data, while staff retain oversight through review and approval workflows.

The pitch comes as construction groups face pressure from higher interest rates, tariffs and demands from owners for faster rollouts. In that environment, reducing time spent on routine project administration has become a more pressing issue for contractors and developers.

Battery Ventures, which led the round, said the sector remains heavily reliant on manual work despite the scale of the market.

"Construction is one of the largest and least digitized sectors in the economy, and the teams running these projects are buried in manual work that software should have automated a decade ago. The Shackleton team built this platform to run their own business before bringing it to market. We believe their agentic approach is how construction projects will be managed going forward, and we are proud to lead this round," said Michael Brown, General Partner, Battery Ventures.

Market pressure

Construction software has long promised to connect planning, field operations and finance, yet many contractors still rely on a mix of specialist products and manual processes. Shackleton AI is entering a crowded market, but it is trying to differentiate itself by offering a system that spans both development and construction management rather than just one part of the workflow.

The new funding will be used to expand the range of workflows its AI agents can manage and to support commercial growth. Its early footprint, measured by project value under management and customer names, suggests investors see room for newer software providers that can tie together fragmented project systems.

For builders, the central question will be whether a single platform can reduce administrative work without adding another layer of software for already stretched project teams. Shackleton AI says human review remains part of the process, with the system handling follow-up and drafting work before people approve actions.

The founders are betting that construction managers will accept more automation if it is tied directly to the practical tasks that absorb time on live projects, from submittals and budget checks to daily reporting and cross-project coordination.