Cooper Housing Institute Invests $1.5 Million in Joist Innovation Fund to Tackle Rising Housing Costs

Cooper Housing Institute Invests $1.5 Million in Joist Innovation Fund to Tackle Rising Housing Costs

Commitment will help bring new technologies and business models to market to accelerate housing construction, streamline permitting and expand supply

IRVINE, Calif. November 10, 2026 - The Cooper Housing Institute (CHI), a private foundation established by the Cooper family, owners of WNC & Associates, Inc., today announced a $1.5 million commitment to Joist Innovation Fund, a venture fund launched by Terner Labs to back emerging companies tackling some of the biggest barriers to building more housing. The investment advances CHI's mission to support research and programs that address housing affordability and homelessness.

The commitment marks CHI's first investment in a venture fund and will support early-stage companies developing new approaches to construction, permitting, and financing, with the goal of reducing costs, speeding up development, and making it easier to deliver housing at scale.

"Housing affordability begins with housing availability. We need more homes, and we need to bring down the cost and time it takes to build them," said Will Cooper Jr., President and Co-Founder of CHI. "There are entrepreneurs working on practical solutions to those challenges, but they need capital to put their ideas to work. CHI's investment in Joist will help them take that next step and get more housing built."

Joist combines investment capital with Terner Labs' housing expertise and industry network to help promising solutions gain traction in an industry that requires coordination among builders, developers, lenders, and public agencies. Building on Terner Labs' Housing Venture Lab accelerator, the fund helps entrepreneurs connect with potential customers, test their products, and bring solutions into wider use.

Ann Caruana, President and Chief Investment Officer of Preservation Equity Fund Advisors, the affordable housing preservation investment arm of the WNC & Associates family of companies, will serve on Joist's Limited Partner Advisory Committee in connection with CHI's commitment.

"We want CHI's resources to help move effective solutions into practice," Cooper said. "Joist brings together capital and people who understand how housing gets built. That combination can help entrepreneurs turn a promising approach into something more builders and communities can use."

About Cooper Housing Institute

The Cooper Housing Institute (CHI) is the private foundation of the WNC & Associates, Inc. family of companies. Founded by the Cooper family, CHI supports innovative research, public awareness initiatives, and community organizations with the goal of ending the housing affordability and homelessness crises in the United States. To learn more, please visit https://cooperhousinginstitute.org/.

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