Navitas Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Navitas Capital is a Los Angeles based early-stage venture firm that invests only in technology for the built world: real estate, construction, building operations, and the energy and finance layers that sit on top of them. The firm describes itself as "the partner to innovators transforming the built world" and says it exists to drive innovation in legacy industries such as real estate and construction. Its stated principles are partnership, transformation, and discipline. It calls itself patient capital, deploys only at conviction, and says it has waited years before backing the right team. It does not invest to "put capital to work" or to get exposure to buzzwords.
The website frames four forces it backs founders around: AI, digitization, sustainability, and fintech. The firm has published a long series of whitepapers, including "Artificial Intelligence for the Built World" (2019), "Intelligent Software as a Service" (2023), the four-part "13 Things to Watch in AI" series (2024), and "How AI and the Energy Transition are Redefining Real Estate Value" (2024). Its current emphasis is vertical AI: companies that interpret construction drawings, contracts, procurement, and permitting, and automate the work around them.
Stage Focus
Navitas is an early-stage investor. Its portfolio shows first checks at Seed and Series A, followed by pro-rata participation in later rounds. Recent lead rounds include Scaffold's $15M seed (September 2026), Primepoint's $10M seed (April 2026), WorkHero's $5M seed (October 2025), Acelab's $13.5M Series A (October 2025), Field Materials' $10.5M Series A (April 2025), Paces' $11M Series A (July 2024), and Document Crunch's $9M Series A (February 2024). It followed on in EliseAI's rounds from Seed through the $250M Series E.
Check Size
Navitas does not publish a check range on its site. A third-party fund database lists Fund III as a seed fund with checks of roughly $500K to $3M. That range is low confidence. Round sizes it has led range from $5M to about $37M (co-led Ingenious.Build Series A), which suggests larger total commitments in follow-ons.
Lead Tendency
Mixed, leaning to lead. The firm led or co-led Scaffold, Primepoint, WorkHero, Acelab, Field Materials, Paces, Document Crunch, Firmus, Optiwatt, HostGPO, and Ingenious.Build rounds. It participated as an existing investor in EliseAI, SwiftConnect, and Cadastral rounds led by others.
Recent Activity
Fund III closed in November 2021 at $160M, 60% above its initial target. The firm remains active. In the last twelve months it led Scaffold's seed, backed Primepoint's seed, and saw Cadastral acquired by Legora (June 2026), Document Crunch acquired by Trimble (April 2026), and Cherre acquired by RealPage (2026). Firmus was acquired by Bluebeam (Nemetschek) in 2025. EliseAI was named to the Forbes 2026 AI 50 list. No Fund IV announcement was found, so fund status is treated as actively deploying with unconfirmed reserves.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio is large and concentrated in proptech and construction tech. Exits and outcomes named on the site include Matterport (from Seed through the public markets), PlanGrid (acquired by Autodesk, 2018), Comfy (acquired by Siemens, 2018), Honest Buildings (acquired by Procore, 2019), Firmus (Bluebeam, 2025), Document Crunch (Trimble, 2026), Cherre (RealPage, 2026), Cadastral (Legora, 2026), Livly (Bilt), Ravti (Building Engines), and CivCheck (Clariti). Other notable holdings are EliseAI (unicorn, Series E led by a16z), OpenSpace ($902M valuation in 2022), HqO, Orchard, Roofstock, Lessen, SwiftConnect, Ingenious.Build, Paces, Acelab, Field Materials, and Parkade.
Team
- Travis Putnam, Managing Partner and Co-Founder
- Louis Schotsky, Managing Partner
- Jenny Song, Partner (writes much of the firm's thesis content on construction and AI)
- Mike Heller, Principal
- Chris Longman, Principal
- Amy Persohn, Chief Operating Officer
- James Herbert and Michael Spies, Venture Partners
- Senior advisors and advisory board include Tim Naughton, Steve Swerdlow, Jill Frankle, Bryce Blair, and Rob Stewart. Co-founder Jim Pettit is listed In Memoriam.
Decision Process
Partnership model with two managing partners and a partner and principals beneath them. The firm leans on a network of real estate and construction operators, LPs, and strategic investors (JLL Spark, DivcoWest, Fifth Wall, AvalonBay, Equity Residential) to source lighthouse customers for portfolio companies. Warm intros are not stated as required; the site invites founders to get in touch via [email protected].
Founder Preferences
Founders with ambition and grit who act as change catalysts in legacy industries, often with deep operator or domain experience (for example, Primepoint's founders from Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Webcor). Navitas pitches itself as a level-headed trusted advisor that helps with go-to-market, lighthouse customers, and commercial partners rather than only capital. Founder testimonials stress calm, maturity, and being "in the trenches".
Geographic Focus
Headquartered in Los Angeles. Portfolio companies are mostly US based (New York, San Francisco, and Bay Area heavy), with some international exposure such as Legora and Firmus. No stated geographic restriction was found.
Gaps
AUM, check size, and fund status are not on the firm's own site. A third-party listing cites about $450M AUM and a $500K to $3M Fund III check range; neither is verified, so AUM is left unset.