Class 3 Technologies, a startup focused on developing sophisticated tools to evaluate climate risk for buildings, has successfully raised $3.5 million in a seed funding round. The funds will be used to enhance its climate risk and resilience software tailored for the built environment.
Originating from the global built environment consultancy Arup, Class 3 has introduced Iris, a software platform designed to provide property owners, investors, and developers with insights into how buildings might be impacted by climate-driven events. Unlike traditional methods that rely on broad forecasts or financial loss estimates, Iris employs engineering-based modelling to identify vulnerabilities and test resilience strategies at the individual building level.
The company is led by Founder and CEO Ibbi Almufti, who previously headed Arup’s Risk and Resilience practice and has expertise in seismic and climate risk quantification. Almufti stated, “We are here to catalyse resilience action at scale. To measure resilience accurately, we had to develop new damage and loss models built on first principles of engineering, down to the level of individual building components. With Iris, organisations can finally quantify building vulnerability and risk properly and simulate the benefits of resilience interventions to act decisively.”
Class 3 aims to make high-quality risk analysis both scalable and actionable, addressing the issue that traditional engineering assessments are often too costly to apply across extensive property portfolios, while existing reporting tools lack the precision required for operational decisions. Iris is intended to bridge this gap, providing decision-makers with the data needed to invest with confidence in climate resilience.
Now operating independently after its spin-out from Arup Ventures, Class 3 is scaling its technology. During its development phase, Iris was utilised by several major clients to guide site selection, acquisitions, and resilience planning across diverse building portfolios.
The funding round was led by Powerhouse Ventures, with participation from Sustainable Future Ventures and Tailwind Futures. Marie Thompson, Partner at Powerhouse Ventures, commented, “Iris is an innovative new software platform that will change the way organisations manage and protect their building and infrastructure portfolios. We believe Class 3’s team and technology uniquely position them to lead the next generation of resilience planning.”
