Seasoned software entrepreneur Ed Holloway, who was most recently Founder and CEO of Persistence AI, hopes he’s working on his magnum opus—a final startup tackling some of the largest problems the U.S. is facing right now.
Those problems are housing stock and affordability, and the startup is Placeable. With this venture, Holloway is developing a modular housing system built on standardized, repeatable processes that leverage software and automation to cut manufacturing costs, accelerate production, and ultimately lower prices for consumers.
Housing issues have been on Holloway’s radar for years. His wife is an architect, he built a mobile app for the construction industry in the early 2000s, and he even spent summers working on job sites in his youth. As he sees it, the construction process has barely evolved, and the U.S. housing stock and affordability crisis can no longer be ignored.
“No matter how many conversations you have on tough problems, housing is probably always going to be near the top of that list,” Holloway said.
Many of today’s housing challenges stem from inefficiencies in traditional homebuilding—inefficiencies that Placeable’s unique process is designed to address. With the U.S. undersupplied by millions of homes, Holloway sees an opportunity to rethink how houses are built.
“The biggest cost in any house is going to be the construction,” Holloway said, “So that was a pretty obvious place to start just knowing all the inefficiencies.”
Building a solution
Traditional homebuilding in the U.S. is slow and fragmented. Homes are built outdoors, meaning projects are subject to weather delays; there may be dozens of subcontractors operating in silos, creating bottlenecks, miscommunication, and a need for rework; and labor shortages exacerbate the problems, with skilled workers leaving faster than new ones entering the industry.
Ultimately, some 20-30% of materials are often wasted, and projects can stretch from months into a year or more, leaving buyers with higher costs and delayed move-ins.
Placeable will address these challenges through modular construction in controlled factory settings, ultimately relying on methods that reduce waste, accelerate production, and improve quality.
Inside the factory, each home is built using standardized, repeatable processes optimized with robotics, AI, and software-defined workflows. Some specific examples include the use of computer vision to optimize steel frame cutting and deploying AI to combine tasks based on data.
The company also relies on high-performance, sustainable materials such as magnesium oxide (MgO) boards and cold-formed steel framing. Steel is precisely cut to minimize waste and maximize durability; it is also not subject to mold, moisture, or termites like traditional wood framing. Placeable is eco-aware, and the startup aims to reduce waste as much as possible.
“From a manufacturing perspective, steel is straight and true and perfect,” Holloway said. “That makes repeatability in the manufacturing process substantially easier.”
Placeable’s homes are meant to be shipped compact, with the current 400-square-foot model able to be transported as a standard cargo load to a site and fully erected, ready for move-in, within just a few days.
Placeable estimates that its homes are 30-50% cheaper per square foot than those delivered by standard home builders (including the large tract ‘model’ home developers).
ADUs and the current product
Placeable’s initial product is a one-bedroom, one-bath, 400-square-foot ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) with full kitchen and appliances. An ADU is an independent residential building designed to be placed on an existing lot, such as a primary home lot or extra acreage at an apartment complex. ADUs are set to be important tools for increasing the housing supply and bringing down costs, with many cities (including Durham and Raleigh) already zoning for them.
The startup has had conversations with investors interested in putting ADUs on existing properties to increase monthly income, as well as with municipalities and developers interested in doing a cottage court style with multiple units.
The near (and further) future
Placeable is working to close on its first warehouse soon and aims to be well into manufacturing and deliver at least one initial pre-sale unit (which they have 7-8 figures of right now) by the end of 2025.
“In Q1 of next year, we will really start scaling and working through the backlog and the sales platform,” Holloway said.
QUICK BITS
Startup: Placeable
Co-Founders: Ed Holloway (CEO), Ed Hintz (CTO)
Founded: 2025
Team size: 2 (+ 4 part-time)
Location: Raleigh
Website: placeable.homes
Funding: Bootstrapped; pending raise
On a more intermediate timeline, Holloway aims to be smoothly producing 2-3 homes a day and beginning production on larger homes, gradually scaling up from the ADUs to more multi-family or larger single-family homes built with the same automated, efficient, and cost-effective process.
Placeable is also having discussions with larger municipalities and sees interest and desire in what they are doing. At some point, Holloway said, a public-private affordable housing partnership is possible.
“That’s definitely something we want to be able to do here in the Triangle and highlight as a flagship development,” Holloway said. “Yes, you can, in 2025, get a livable house on the ground for under $100,000.”
