Nick Callegari never planned on building houses.But after designing spacecraft parts at SpaceX, he decided to aim for something a little closer to home.The result is Verustruct, a Yale-born startup developing a new kind of 3D printer that can fabricate entire building walls—complete with integrated plumbing, electrical wiring, and insulation, without the bulky gantry systems that dominate today’s additive construction landscape.
“We’re using a translational slip-form technology,” Callegari told 3DPrint.com in an interview.“It prints a layer, scales up, and prints the next—no gantry, no robotic arms, just a compact system tethered to a material truck.” The idea is simple: make printing walls faster, cleaner, and cheaper, “while eliminating the spaghetti bowl of subcontractors and supply chain delays plaguing traditional construction.” Nick Callegari.How the Technology Works While most 3D printed homes are built using massive frames or robotic arms that pump concrete through a nozzle, Verustruct’s system works differently.
The company’s approach, known as translational slip-form printing, combines the precision of 3D printing with a method borrowed from traditional construction methods.In slip-form construction, concrete is poured into a moving mold that slowly climbs upward as the structure forms.Verustruct adapts this idea with a compact printer that scales the wall layer by layer as it prints, avoiding the need for large gantry setups.
The printer is small, and tethered to a material truck that feeds it everything it needs: concrete, plumbing, insulation, and electrical wiring.All of those elements are laid into the wall during the print.That means everything can be embedded as the structure takes shape, cutting out extra steps.
Nick Callegari.Verustruct is also developing its own software and sensor system, designed to track the location of every pipe and cable in real-time.“We’re still working through that part,” Callegari said, “but the goal is to make sure everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be.” The team has already filed a non-provisional patent and is pursuing additional filings to protect its approach.
Yale Roots, Global Goals The company, called initially Impact3D, emerged from Yale’s innovation ecosystem in late 2024 before rebranding as Verustruct.In April 2025, it won the Audience Choice Award and runner-up prize at the Startup Yale competition, earning $15,000 in funding.That was on top of a $20,000 summer fellowship from Yale’s Tsai CITY and an additional $10,000 from the School of Management.
Verustruct also took home the Sobotka Seed Prize for Sustainable Ventures, highlighting its focus on carbon-negative building systems.Most recently, the team placed second in the Climate Tech track at the Yale Innovation Summit’s live pitch competition, winning $6,000 and a Golden Ticket for one free year at ClimateHaven.With this support — and more grants along the way — Callegari built a tabletop prototype to prove the concept.
Now, Verustruct is kicking off a $2.7 million pre-seed round to scale up, build a full-size printer, and run its first pilot housing projects in the coming years.Smooth Walls, Smoother Approvals One of Verustruct’s most surprising innovations isn’t just what goes into the walls, it’s how they look.“We’re aiming for smooth, finished surfaces that mimic traditional construction,” Callegari said.
“That might sound cosmetic, but it’s strategic.There’s a lot of resistance to the layered, ribbed look of 3D printed homes.People don’t always want something that looks different in their neighborhoods.
NIMBYism [‘Not In My Backyard’ sentiment] is real.We want to make buildings that blend in, so neighbors don’t fight them before they’re even built.” The goal is to work directly with affordable housing developers and municipalities.The startup has already received letters of support from the City of New Haven and is getting some interest from local developers.
But rather than just selling printers, Verustruct wants to stay involved in the entire building process.“Our fear is that if we act as just a subcontractor, others in the chain will raise the price,” Callegari said.“We want to capture more of the value so we can pass the savings to the people living in these homes.” Verustruct wins StartUp Yale 2025 award.
From Construction Sites to Climate Solutions Verustruct’s long-term vision isn’t just about affordability; it’s about sustainability.The company is experimenting with electrochemistry-based Portland cement alternatives and basalt fiber tension rods, aiming to keep each unit well below traditional carbon emissions benchmarks.“We won’t go to market unless the structures we deliver beat the baseline for greenhouse gas emissions,” Callegari noted.
“And there’s more to improve.Job site waste is massive.Coordination between subcontractors is messy.
We’re trying to reduce all of that by embedding multiple systems directly into the wall during the print.That means fewer workers, fewer errors, and less waste.” That’s not just a vision, it’s part of the bylaws.Verustruct is legally set up as a public benefit corporation, which means that social and environmental goals are part of how the company operates.
From SpaceX to Concrete Before founding Verustruct, Callegari worked as a mechanical engineer at SpaceX, where he helped design structures for the Dragon spacecraft.One of his main projects was the Polaris Dawn Extravehicular Activity (EVA) structure, a key feature that allows astronauts to move around outside the capsule.But the leap from space to housing wasn’t as big as it sounds.
Callegari explains: “My dad worked construction (walls and stucco) for 30 years.So I grew up working summers with him.After Princeton, UC Berkeley, and then SpaceX, I wanted to work on something that could make a real impact here on Earth.” Callegari’s journey, from a QuestBridge scholar to an MBA student at Yale, reflects the mission behind his startup: to build smarter, fairer, and greener solutions for the planet.
He also explored these ideas in a TEDxYale talk, connecting lessons from space engineering to sustainable construction.Additive Construction Gaining Steam Verustruct isn’t the only company rethinking how we build.From ICON’s layered designs to robotic arms building walls in Europe and Asia, additive construction is gaining momentum worldwide.
Experts say the industry could grow quickly over the next five years, driven by labor shortages, climate targets, and housing demand.But Verustruct’s focus on building walls with everything inside, like plumbing, wiring, and insulation, and its compact approach could help it stand out in the growing 3D construction market.“We’re still early,” Callegari said.
“But we’ve got the right people, and we’re solving a real problem.” Fifteen students have worked with Verustruct so far, with many hoping to join the company full-time after graduation.They operate out of ClimateHaven, a New Haven-based incubator for climate tech startups.Verustruct’s pilot homes could start appearing within the next two years.
The team is also refining its in-house system to verify that internal components are placed precisely.As for advice to other founders? Callegari tells us, “It’s easy to get overwhelmed looking five or ten years out.But if you just take the first step, you’ll find that there’s a path to building the vision you have.
It just starts with moving forward.” It’s the kind of mindset that turned a summer job in construction and a career in aerospace into a startup that now hopes to change how homes are built.For Callegari, that first step wasn’t about having the perfect plan; it was about starting with something real and building from there.All images courtesy of Verustruct.
Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter
Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.Print Services
Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.Powered by FacFox
Powered by 3D Systems
Powered by Craftcloud
Powered by Endeavor 3D
Powered by Xometry
3DPrinting Business Directory
3DPrinting Business Directory
