This article was written by Daphne Tomlinson, Senior Research Associate at Memoori. Memoori has been tracking deals in the global smart buildings space since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to assess the impact on funding of startups. Compared with H2-2019, deal volume in H1-2020 was only 3% down while total US$ investment was down 19%. We recorded 150 funding rounds amounting to around $2.37 billion up to the end of June, compared with 154 funding rounds in H2-2019 amounting to $2.93 billion. We conclude that VC firms, private equity and strategic investors have not reduced their support for the smart buildings sector during the crisis, although dollar values have reduced. The decrease is not that dramatic, bearing in mind the high annual funding levels of the past two years. COVID-19 had limited impact on Q1-2020 activities as many deals had already closed or were in the process of being closed prior to the outbreak […]