H
ere is the rewritten text:

    The venture capital landscape for US real estate-related startups has shifted significantly in recent times. While overall funding numbers have declined, there are still areas that remain popular among investors. Using Crunchbase data, we identified four such spaces: home equity financing, rental management, eco-friendly building, and tools for streamlining construction.

    These themes align with the current market climate, characterized by higher lending costs, lower affordability, and fewer homeowners opting to sell and move. In contrast to a few years ago, when low rates and active sales were prevalent, investors are now pouring capital into solutions that address these challenges.

    Home equity financing has seen a surge in investment activity, driven by homeowners who bought at lower prices and mortgage rates, but are now sitting on substantial sums of home equity. This has led to the emergence of startups offering tools for homeowners to withdraw cash from their properties or simplify homebuying and selling in a challenging financing environment.

    Some notable funding recipients include Splitero, which landed a $300 million strategic investment for its home equity investments; Unlock, which raised $30 million in Series B funding for its home equity agreement; and EasyKnock, which secured $28 million in Series D funding for its sale-leaseback financing option.

    Rental management has also seen significant investment activity, with more would-be homebuyers becoming renters due to affordability issues. Tenants are paying record-high prices, with the median rental price on Zillow reaching $2,050. Startups like Bilt Rewards, which raised $150 million in August for its loyalty points app; Rentberry, which landed a $90 million Series A for its rental platform; and EliseAI, which secured $75 million in Series D funding for its conversational AI property management tool.

    Eco-conscious homebuilding and improvements have also attracted significant investment, with startups working on lower-carbon cement, energy-efficient home heating and cooling, and other sustainable solutions. Notable funding recipients include Sublime Systems and Fortera, which raised $85 million and $75 million, respectively, for their clean concrete initiatives; Quilt, which secured a $33 million Series A round for its electric heat pumps; and Sealed, which closed a $30 million Series B for its home weatherization and energy upgrades platform.

    Streamlining construction has also seen robust funding activity, with startups developing tools and platforms to simplify the planning, permitting, and construction processes. Notable funding recipients include PermitFlow, which landed a $31 million Series A for its business model aimed at making permits faster and easier; GreenLite Technologies, which picked up $28.5 million in financing for its permitting management platform; and HighArc, which secured $53 million in Series B funding for its homebuilding automation platform.

    While startups are addressing pain points in the current market conditions, including lower affordability, higher building costs, and slower sales, it remains to be seen whether these solutions will continue to attract demand regardless of how the market cycles.