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This Research Note reviews strategic investments in the smart buildings space over the last 12 months.
A diverse range of corporate stakeholders - commercial real estate service firms, building owners and operators, vendors of building automation systems and HVAC equipment firms - have continued to fund startups with innovative technology platforms and business models.
Investments in building energy efficiency, building-to-grid technologies, HVAC optimization, sustainability and ESG solutions have been the predominant focus in the broad energy management space.
10 Notable Smart Buildings Investments by Strategic Buyers
Lincoln Property Company
In February 2023, Gridium Inc., a US energy data analytics software partner for real estate firms, announced total funding of over $14M from investors who see the potential to decarbonize commercial buildings. Lincoln Property Company participated in providing additional equity funding following a year of record revenues across Gridium’s software and decarbonization project financing offerings. Gridium has been adopted across Lincoln Property Co’s portfolio.
In May 2023, Measurabl, a San Diego, CA-based provider of an ESG (environmental, social, governance) technology platform for real estate, closed a $93M Series D funding round. Lincoln Property Company and Colliers both participated in the round.
CBRE
In May 2023, CBRE Property Management formed a global strategic partnership and strategic investment in Deepki, a Paris, France-headquartered company operating in more than 50 countries, with a platform which enables its customers to collect energy, water
and waste consumption data, gain a comprehensive view of environmental performance at a portfolio and asset level, establish investment plans to reach net zero, and measure results.
CBRE has been using Deepki for properties it manages in the United Kingdom for more than two years. Deepki is now being deployed across CBRE-managed properties throughout Continental Europe, with plans to begin using Deepki in the Americas and the Pacific region as the next step in a global rollout. In an exclusive reseller agreement, CBRE can also offer Deepki Ready directly to its property management clients in the Americas and Asia Pacific region.
JLL
In April 2023, JLL Spark participated in Infogrid’s $90 million Series B funding round Infogrid is a London, UK-based provider of an AI-powered sustainability-focused smart buildings platform that automates and optimizes facilities and building management, actively preventing carbon emissions, water and chemical waste while making buildings safe. JLL is actively exploring the deployment of Infogrid across their property portfolio to meet and exceed sustainability goals.
Schneider Electric
In August 2023, Clockworks Analytics closed a Series E funding round of $16.1 million with participation from existing investor, SE Ventures. Schneider Electric is a long-standing partner and investor in Clockworks Analytics, having invested in a $8 million Series D funding in August 2020 and previously invested $2 million in the company in 2016.
In December 2023, Schneider Electric divested AutoGrid to Uplight, the Boulder, Colorado-based utility software company and after the deal closes, will be the largest investor in Uplight.
Honeywell
In March 2023, Honeywell announced a strategic investment in Redaptive, which will accelerate a collaboration to bring Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) capabilities to private sector-owned commercial and industrial buildings.
This collaboration combines Honeywell's experience in energy savings performance contracting (ESPC) and building controls capabilities with Redaptive's innovative data technology and EaaS platform. As part of the collaboration with Redaptive, Honeywell will deploy the Redaptive platform in its own facilities.
ABB
In April 2023, ABB, a returning lead investor and global partner of Brainbox AI participated in a US$20 million fundraise to support the continued development of the Canadian startup’s decarbonization technology.
The strategic partnership allowed ABB’s Smart Buildings division to combine its existing portfolio of digital solutions, particularly the ABB Ability Building Ecosystem, with BrainBox AI’s autonomous AI technology. A global distribution agreement between BrainBox AI and ABB was announced in January 2022, to bring the AI-driven solution to ABB’s existing customer base.
Phoenix Contact
In January 2023, aedifion raised €12 million in a Series A round, with participation from Phoenix Contact Innovation Ventures. Aedifion is a Cologne, Germany-based startup which utilizes artificial intelligence to control HVAC systems in a predictive manner across commercial property portfolios by up to 40%.
Phoenix Contact, the vendor of the Emalytics building management system have integrated aedifion’s cloud platform as a fixed component in their solution since 2020.
Panasonic
In October 2023, Panasonic Corporation, the Japanese HVAC equipment manufacturer, selected R8 Technologies as a strategic partner and invested in the Estonian developer of an AI-powered smart buildings and control solution.
This article was written by Daphne Tomlinson, Senior Research Associate at Memoori.
