diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 30e14c9509..e4f8ac6a31 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ env:
   global:
   - secure: Kf44XQFpq2QGe3rn98Dsf5Uz3WXzPDralS54co7sqT5oQGs1mYLYZRYz+I75ZSo5ffZ86H7M+AI9YFofqGwAjBixBbqf1tGkUh3oZp2fN3QfqzazGV3HzC+o41zALG5FL+UBaURev9ChQ5fYeTtFB7YAzejHz4y5E97awk934Rg=
   - secure: QbNAu0jCaKrwjJi7KZtYEBA/pYbTJ91Y1x/eLAJpsamswVOvwnThA/TLYuux+oiZQCiDUpBzP3oxksIrEEUAhl0lMtqRFY3MrcUr+si9NIjX8hmoFwkvZ5o1b7pmLF6Vz3rQeP/EWMLcljLzEwsrRXeK0Ei2E4vFpsg8yz1YXJg=
+  - CATS_BOT_BUILD=true
 cache:
   directories:
   - $HOME/.sbt/0.13/dependency
diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index 51e15edba7..14dfe856c7 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import sbtunidoc.Plugin.UnidocKeys._
 import ReleaseTransformations._
 import ScoverageSbtPlugin._
 
+lazy val botBuild = settingKey[Boolean]("Jenkins/TravisCI build mode")
+
 lazy val scoverageSettings = Seq(
   ScoverageKeys.coverageMinimum := 60,
   ScoverageKeys.coverageFailOnMinimum := false,
@@ -55,7 +57,11 @@ lazy val commonJsSettings = Seq(
     s"-P:scalajs:mapSourceURI:$a->$g/"
   },
   scalaJSStage in Global := FastOptStage,
-  parallelExecution := false
+  parallelExecution := false,
+  // Only use for scala.js for now
+  botBuild := sys.props.getOrElse("CATS_BOT_BUILD", default="false") == "true",
+  // batch mode decreases the amount of memory needed to compile scala.js code
+  scalaJSOptimizerOptions := scalaJSOptimizerOptions.value.withBatchMode(botBuild.value)
 )
 
 lazy val commonJvmSettings = Seq(