Illoca: Re-architecting the future of building design
Bessemer Venture Partners leads Illoca’s $13M Seed to develop the generative AI tool for architects and engineers.
Maha Malik, Kent Bennett & Rayouf Alhumedhi
Published on May 6, 2026
Imagine a future where an architect sits at her desk, sketching out her latest idea to replicate the unique curve of a seashell she found on the beach into the geometry of a building. She sketches it out, uploads it to Illoca, and watches as a fully editable 3D model takes shape before her. She can keep working on the model in Illoca or export it directly into Revit. Either way, she saves several excruciating hours that she can now spend iterating and collaborating until the design is exactly how she imagined. That future is here today.
Illoca’s first product, Tracing Paper™, is unlike anything else in the market today. Upload a sketch, feed in a bubble diagram, or generate a building rendering directly inside Illoca, and the platform produces a fully editable 2D or 3D model in return. Think of this as the ChatGPT moment for building design: the first time the technology has felt truly generative for schematic and detailed design work. And like all transformative generative platforms, it’ll only get more powerful from here.
For most of human history, the gap between an architectural idea and a finished building was a matter of craft. Then software arrived, and something strange happened: that gap grew. Today, architects navigate interfaces built on a software paradigm from the 90s, spending most of their time transcribing ideas into tools rather than designing and iterating. As we outlined in our Built World AI roadmap, changing this paradigm is no small feat. Building modeling requires millimeter precision, code compliance, and structural integrity. Solving that with generative AI makes it harder still.
When we first met co-founders Chin-Yi Cheng and Chiaowei Yu, we were struck by how clearly they understood the complexity of the modern architect’s frustration. Chin-Yi had spent years at Google DeepMind and the Autodesk AI Lab pioneering generative AI for architecture and design. Chiaowei had led Building Information Modeling (BIM) at Tesla, delivering some of the most intricate manufacturing and healthcare facilities in the world. The duo lived it from both sides, as researchers who knew what was technically possible and as practitioners who knew exactly where current tools broke down in the process. They wanted to build the ideal generative interface that they spent their careers wishing had existed.
Illoca is building toward a world where every architect and engineer can generate code-compliant, construction-ready designs in the amount of time it takes to open a file. This is more than just faster iteration: it’s freeing up an entire profession for its sole purpose, which is to create the best buildings to live our lives in. This is why we’re proudly leading Illoca's $13 million Seed round alongside AIX Ventures, Alt Ventures, and Root Ventures.
At a time when the world needs more housing, hospitals, data centers, and resilient infrastructure, the demand for nimble architects in the field has never been greater. Illoca is just getting started, and we're excited to see how far beyond the architect's desk the tool will reach. Learn more about Illoca.
Contributors
Maha Malik
Vice President
Maha is a Vice President in Bessemer Venture Partners’ New York office, where she focuses on early-stage investments across the application-layer. She partners with founders building across B2B, consumer, and prosumer platforms, with a particular interest in how workflows are being reshaped in the LLM era across verticals.
Prior to Bessemer, Maha was an Associate Partner at Bain & Company, where she focused on growth strategy, operations, new business incubation, and private equity diligence across software, consumer, and healthcare.
Maha graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with a BA in Economics. She holds an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. Originally from Pakistan, she loves traveling, experimenting in the kitchen, and writing.
Kent Bennett
Partner
Kent Bennett is a partner in Bessemer’s Boston office focusing on B2B application software and consumer “earthquakes.”
Before his career in venture capital, Kent was a creative executive for an entertainment production company, where he developed and sold original material including a network television pilot and a feature film. He began his career with Bain & Co., where he worked on projects in industries spanning IT, retail, consumer products, healthcare, and biotech.
Kent earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, and graduated summa cum laude in systems engineering from the University of Virginia, where he was a Jefferson Scholar.
Rayouf Alhumedhi
Investor
Rayouf Alhumedhi is an investor based in Bessemer’s New York office. Before joining, Rayouf spent time in consumer and technology, having worked in consumer insights at Netflix and Adidas. She also worked at Canvas Ventures in Palo Alto and the Saudi-based VC firm, Khwarizmi Ventures.
Rayouf earned a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in product design from Stanford University. In 2017, she gained recognition in Forbes 30 Under 30 for her creation of the headscarf emoji. Her interests include delving into design history and culture; she collaborated on a zine with Dr. Martens and frequently explores modern art museums.
