Darren Bechtel

Founder & Managing Director at Brick & Mortar Ventures · Joined 2015

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Biography

Darren Bechtel is the Founder and Managing Director of Brick & Mortar Ventures, a San Francisco venture capital firm founded in 2015 that invests exclusively in early stage technology for the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. A fifth generation member of the family behind Bechtel Group, he built the firm after making roughly 40 angel investments in construction technology startups, including early checks into PlanGrid and BuildingConnected, both later acquired by Autodesk. In 2019 the firm closed a $97.2 million fund backed by industry investors such as Autodesk, CEMEX, and Ferguson Ventures. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering/Product Design and an MBA from Stanford, and serves on several industry advisory and leadership boards.

Education

Previous Experience

Notable Investments

PlanGridBuildingConnectedFieldwireLevelsetEverCharge

Board Seats

Career Timeline

2015
Founded Brick & Mortar Ventures in San Francisco to invest in early stage construction technology.
2018
Autodesk agreed to acquire portfolio companies PlanGrid and BuildingConnected.
2019
Closed the firm's $97.2 million fund backed by industry investors including Autodesk, CEMEX, and Ferguson Ventures.

Sources & References

Brick & Mortar Ventures - Team ↗TechCrunch - Brick & Mortar closes $97.5M fund (2019) ↗Construction Dive - Bechtel scion raises nearly $100M (2019) ↗Autodesk - Completes PlanGrid acquisition ↗