Construction & proptech
Tools and platforms that bring manufacturing discipline to how buildings are specified, procured, scheduled and built — and that connect homeowners with the trades who do the work.
Energizing Main Street · Capital · Services · Tools
Early capital and solutions from entrepreneurs who continue to build.
A network of passionate builders, “Trusted Advisors,” who help entrepreneurs build a foundation for success.
Focus
Where we invest
Enterprise AI & software
B2B software where strong technology needs a path to revenue: clear positioning, repeatable sales motions, channel partnerships and the processes that let a team scale.
Operator-led, early stage
Pre-seed and seed companies where hands-on help matters as much as the check — program management, partnerships, hiring and go-to-market from someone who has done it.
Portfolio
Companies we've built, backed and advised
A small, concentrated portfolio where Steve takes an active role — as investor, founder, operator or advisor.
| Company | What they do | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| QuarrioEnterprise AI · 2024– | An enterprise-grade deterministic AI platform that delivers “answers people can act on.” Steve built its enterprise operating system — planning, forecasting and execution — and a partnership-led revenue engine. | Investor · COO & SVP Partnerships | quarrio.com ↗ |
| Build Smart SolutionsResidential construction · 2023– | The Trusted Advisor Platform: one place that connects ambitious builders with vetted experts, essential tools and flexible capital, strengthening Main Street economies for homeowners, trades and local businesses. | Founded & incubated | buildsmartsolutions.us ↗ |
| FirstplanitConstruction tech · London · 2023–24 | An AI-enabled platform that accelerates building-product selection, procurement and project planning, with a strong emphasis on sustainability. Steve defined the product strategy and built the infrastructure and partnerships to productize it. | Co-founder · CTO | firstplanit.com ↗ |
| JB's IT SystemsManaged IT · Chicagoland | Enterprise-grade WiFi, networking, security cameras and managed IT support for homes and small businesses across the Chicagoland area, delivered directly by the owner with no call center in between. An installation and support partner for our smart connected concepts. | Advisor | jbsitsystems.com ↗ |
| PrairieCommSemiconductors · 1995–2005 | A Greylock-backed fabless semiconductor company that raised $500M and reached $50M in annual revenue from eight global handset makers and operators. Acquired by Freescale Semiconductor. | Co-founder · Acquired |
For founders
What you get beyond the check
DRKS is built around one operator's experience taking hardware and software products from prototype to scale.
Operating cadence
Program management, planning rhythms and the processes a company needs when it moves from great technology to revenue.
Partnerships & go-to-market
Hands-on help structuring strategic partnerships, channel relationships and the first repeatable sales motion.
Hiring with a high bar
Interview loops, role definitions and candidate assessment shaped by more than a thousand interviews as an Amazon Bar Raiser.
Connected hardware, concept to ship
For founders building smart connected products: PRFAQ, prototypes, engineering builds, certification, ODM and supplier selection, and factory ramp, plus the risk/reward supplier deals that keep it capital-light.
Idea Factory
Want to start a business?
Functional concepts ready for someone to scale, organized by domain. Each domain is set up to become its own company, spun out to the entrepreneur or investor who wants to take it further. Interested? Let's chat!
Projects marked Private are tools we run for ourselves. They are shown here as summaries with masked screenshots only — the tools and their data are not publicly accessible.
Building & Home
Design, cost and procurement tools, plus a professional network for homeowners, builders and product makers.
Operating as Build Smart Solutions buildsmartsolutions.us ↗
Home Design
3D design app for a home addition: existing, proposed and surveyed schemes, floor plans, walk-through rooms, roof pitch and sun study.
Open the app ↗
Rooftop Deck Design
3D design app for a roof terrace built on the house's Revit model, with preset views, a snapping measure tool and a finish schedule.
Open the app ↗
Trusted Advisor
Live product showcases, 3D virtual showrooms and a vetted network of local professionals. Launched at the 2025 Silicon Valley Modern Home Tour.
See the platform ↗
BIM Cost & Procurement
Turns a Revit or IFC building model into a takeoff, cost estimate, procurement schedule and what-if scenarios, all linked to the 3D model.
See the projects ↗Smart Connected Solutions
Systems that combine custom hardware, firmware, apps and data services, from sensors in the home to software in the car.
Open to spinout- DefinePRFAQ, use cases, target cost, hardware + service model
- PrototypeOff-the-shelf modules, dev kits, app and cloud mock-ups
- EngineerCustom board and enclosure, firmware, engineering builds
- Certify & launchFCC/UL, carrier and partner certification, SDKs
- ScaleODM selection, factory qualification and ramp, logistics
- OperateDevice management, over-the-air updates, support, analytics
Smart home & building systems
Energy and heat pump monitoring, sensors that feed a home's material passport, and connected product showcases. Designed with Build Smart Solutions, installed and supported with partners like JB's IT Systems.
See smart home systems ↗
Connected vehicle
The Tesla Route 66 Navigator plans a multi-day trip and sends each stop straight to the car through the vehicle's API, a working example of software that reaches into a connected device.
See the concept →Why us: co-founded a cellular chipset company and integrated its platform into 15+ handsets, led 4G LTE platform programs at Freescale, and took Amazon's Fire Phone, Fire TV and tablet ecosystems to market at Lab126. Several patents in embedded systems and computer vision.
Investment Operations
The back office of an angel investor: agreements, obligations and portfolio companies in one place, plus research on how leading investors build their portfolios.
Private tools · one public snapshot
DRKS Portfolio Management
Tracks portfolio companies, the agreements signed with each and the obligations that outlive them. Its first tool reviews an inbound NDA clause by clause against a written playbook — mutuality, carve-outs, term and survival, non-solicit and non-compete, IP and governing law — flags what falls outside it and drafts the changes to ask for. A register keeps every agreement in force and every commitment with its end date, and companies and people come straight from the Personal CRM.
Private tool. Names, terms and figures masked.
Pershing Square 13F Tracker
Every quarter of Pershing Square Capital Management’s US stock portfolio since 2005, rebuilt from its public SEC 13F filings: holdings and weights, what was bought and sold, and each position’s history. Every filing is checked against its own reported totals, and it refreshes after each quarterly deadline.
Public SEC data. Not affiliated with Pershing Square. Not investment advice. Open the snapshot ↗Enterprise Operations
Operating systems that help startups plan, execute and report in one place.
Private · open to spinout
Enterprise Dashboard
One self-contained page for running a startup: OKRs, a Gantt project schedule, product status and test results, operating cadence, searchable meeting decisions and a revenue view. What each person sees depends on their role.
Internal tool. Text masked for confidentiality.Personal Finance
Household and investment tools that turn raw transaction exports into answers.
Private · open to spinout
Financial Console
One private console for a household’s whole financial picture. A combined view puts net worth, investment income, realized gains and household cash flow side by side. Tabs cover tax estimated against tax actually paid by tax year, the investment portfolio, and household spending — trends, budget vs. actual, recurring charges, vendors and transfer reconciliation. Every figure clicks through to the transactions behind it, with a full audit trail back to the source workbooks.
Private tool. Figures masked for privacy.Household Operations
Running a home like a well-run company: one place for what needs attention, with shared ownership.
Private · open to spinout
Household Dashboard
A private, sign-in-protected dashboard for a couple running a household together: this week’s priorities, upcoming dates, household to-dos and renewals, a money summary, contacts and family photos, plus a launcher for every app they use. Content lives in plain files, one item per file, and nothing reaches the dashboard until it has been reviewed and approved — with two-person sign-off for finances and family photos.
Private tool. Text and figures masked.Relationship Management
Tools that turn scattered address books into one clean, trusted network.
Private · open to spinout
Personal CRM
Combines contacts from LinkedIn, Google and Apple into one deduplicated list. It suggests likely duplicates for you to review and merge, tracks data quality and every change, and rebuilds clean import files for Google, Outlook and Apple. A Businesses view now covers the companies a household deals with — account, billing, renewal and support details, linked contacts and an interaction log — with sign-ins that point to a password manager instead of storing passwords. Contact details are filled in automatically where they are missing. Everything runs locally from a single database.
Private tool. Contact details masked for privacy.Family & Memories
Turning decades of photos into stories you can actually find and share.
Private · open to spinout
Photo Viewer
Describe an album in plain English — “every Chicago Marathon weekend, two days either side” — and it is built from a library of nearly 100,000 photos and videos using capture dates and metadata, across phones, cameras and cloud folders. Remove the shots you don’t want, then export a social-media collage or a one-minute highlight video in a few clicks.
Private tool. Illustration only; no family photos shown.Community
Tools that make local groups easier to belong to and cheaper to run.
Private · in development
Hiking Club Members Site
A members-only website for a local hiking club that has outgrown email threads, now running two hikes a month for up to 30 hikers. Members sign in with an invitation, see every hike with its trail, meeting point, carpool and what to bring, and RSVP in one tap with guests. Organisers invite members and post hikes in minutes. Next: online waivers signed once a year, email reminders, and hike proposals the group votes on.
Private tool. People’s names masked.Travel & Mobility
AI trip planning connected directly to the vehicle.
Open to spinoutTesla Route 66 Navigator
Conversational trip planning for historic Route 66. Describe the trip you want, and the planner builds a multi-day itinerary along the historic alignment and sends each stop straight to the car's navigation.
Concept and working prototype.Podcast
Coming soonEnergizing Main Street
A weekly conversation with the people who build businesses on Main Street: how they started, what nearly broke them, and what they would tell you if you started today. Presented by DRKS Capital.
- Format30–40 minute interviews, recorded on location at the guest's business, in audio and video
- GuestsShop owners, trades, restaurateurs, makers, family businesses and first-time founders, starting with Chicagoland's North Shore
- ForAnyone who keeps thinking about starting a business, and owners in their first few years
- WhereApple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube, with every episode and transcript here
Inside every episode
- 01The sparkThe moment they decided to start
- 02The buildFirst customer, first hire, first dollar
- 03The hard partThe closest they came to quitting, and what got them through
- 04Main Street todayWhat the business means to its town
- 05Start hereOne thing you can do this week to begin your own
About
Steve Bennett
Founder & CEO, DRKS Capital
Three decades taking technology from the lab to scale. Steve co-founded PrairieComm, a VC-backed fabless semiconductor company, where he led global technical account management and TDMA product development — integrating its cellular platform into more than 15 devices that made up 80% of the company's chipset revenue, with long-term on-site leadership in Japan, Korea and South America.
At Freescale Semiconductor he led platform program management and portfolio strategy for the Cellular Product Group, including 4G LTE chipset development. At Celsis International he grew Asian market share from $10M to $30M through strategic distributor partnerships.
Over twelve years at Amazon Lab126 he led the Fire Phone technical program management team, then the partner integration team for Fire TV and tablets — working with partners including Netflix, Hulu and Audible — and later ran engineering and partner services for Amazon's digital products. He was an Amazon Bar Raiser Core Lead with more than 1,000 interviews.
From chipset to shipped device, he has spent his career turning custom hardware and software into products people use every day. Today he runs DRKS Capital, serves as COO & SVP Strategic Partnerships at Quarrio, and builds with the same manufacturing mindset he applied to his own home.
- EducationMS Computer Science, Illinois Institute of Technology · BS Computer Science & Applied Mathematics, Purdue University
- PatentsFace-detection template switching and orientation-aware face detection · ROM patching and TDMA synchronization for microcontrollers · Decision-feedback decoding
- StandardsContributing author, TDMA IS-136 cellular specification
- BasedCampbell, California
Career
- 1995–2005PrairieCommCo-founder · Sr. Director, Global TAM & TDMA Product Development
- 2005–2009Freescale SemiconductorSr. Manager, Platform Program Management · Sr. Portfolio Manager
- 2009–2011Celsis InternationalSr. Director, Strategic Distributor Partnerships
- 2011–2023Amazon Lab126Head, Fire Phone TPM · Sr. Manager, Partner Integration · Sr. Manager, Engineering & Partner Services
- 2023–DRKS CapitalFounder & CEO
- 2023–2024FirstplanitCo-founder & CTO
- 2024–QuarrioInvestor · COO & SVP Strategic Partnerships
Contact
Get in touch
Founders: send a short note on what you're building, who it's for and where you are today. A deck is welcome but not required.
Founders & general enquiries
Pitches, introductions and partnership ideas.
info@drkscapital.comSteve directly
Co-investors and existing relationships.
steve@drkscapital.com