€2.6m · Other round · Software · Berlin, Germany
Berlin-based Phase0 has closed a €2.6m seed extension led by Realyze Ventures. Albert Achammer, chief executive of ATP architekten ingenieure, and former ServiceTitan growth chief Ershad Jamil joined as business angels; existing backers include LocalGlobe and Atlantic. Phase0 says the capital will fund AI agents for the administrative work that surrounds architecture and engineering projects.
Turning project paperwork into product context
Phase0 combines tendering and contract-award workflows, fee management under Germany’s HOAI framework, time tracking, cost control, invoice checking and construction-site documentation in a browser-based product for small and midsized planning firms. The company’s press materials say more than 1,000 architecture and engineering offices use the platform across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
That breadth matters because the target is not a generic chatbot sitting beside existing tools. Phase0’s pitch is that an agent can work with the project data already held in the same system. The company says it has already implemented AI-assisted bills of quantities and a construction diary that turns WhatsApp photos and voice notes into reports, tickets and emails. Planned capabilities include quantity take-offs from drawings, cost estimates, invoice checks against orders and site records, meeting follow-up and schedule updates. Those planned functions remain a roadmap, not delivered results.
The product grew from a 2020 attempt to build payments software for tradespeople. Founder Matthäus Kerres told deutsche-startups.de that conversations with contractors redirected the team toward the software used by architects to approve invoices. Phase0 started with roughly 50 offices, added HOAI software in 2023 and a construction diary in 2025, and now reports a team of about a dozen people serving more than 1,000 firms.
The commercial mechanism is unusually specific: win a planning office with a modern replacement for fragmented desktop tools and spreadsheets, then expand into adjacent administrative modules that share the same project record. That gives Phase0 a distribution base for new agents and gives the agents more relevant context. It also raises the execution bar. Invoice checks, cost estimates and construction records affect real project decisions, so adoption will depend on accuracy, auditability and whether small firms trust automation inside established approval workflows.
Realyze partner Stefan Läufer argues that construction-specific data and each firm’s own project information distinguish Phase0 from general-purpose assistants. The investor’s network in construction and real estate is also meant to broaden market access. The financing therefore backs two linked bets: that specialist workflow software can displace legacy tools in smaller offices, and that the resulting data layer can support agents useful enough to automate work rather than merely draft text.
