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In this Research Note, we explore one of China’s emerging startups in the smart buildings space. Incubated by Arup and with seed investment from Venturous Group, Neuron Digital is gaining momentum as it meets Hong Kong’s demand for building digitalization. Neuron Digital Established Neuron Digital is a joint venture between Arup, a leading built environment consultant, and Venturous Group, a Chinese investor, business builder, and operator of smart city technology and infrastructure companies. In 2021, Venturous Group invested in a Neuron Digital seed round, after being incubated by Arup. Neuron continues to work in close collaboration with Arup to broaden its service offerings for the built environment. The company was launched and fully operational in April 2022. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Neuron offers a full-stack digital platform optimized for buildings. The open cloud-based integrated technology platform with digital twin, AI, and big data capabilities aims to reduce energy costs by up to 15% to 30% […]

Here is the recording and presentation from our live stream with David Blanch from Bitpool discussing their approach to leveraging the power of artificial intelligence on building performance software. Regardless of the buzz around generative AI and its impact on smart building technology, without accurate data, its REAL effect will be negligible. The old adage […]

In this Research Note, we examine the recent Triton announcement of a merger between its portfolio companies, Assemblin and Caverion to create a Northern European technical building installation and services group “providing the most comprehensive and cutting-edge solutions across the full lifecycle of the built environment”. We highlight the strategic rationale of the Caverion acquisition, the overall positioning of the new group, and key takeaways for the smart buildings business across the Nordic and DACH regions. This article is based on the 2023 annual reports of each company, an investor presentation of 7th March 2024, and our analysis of their building automation portfolios. We previously covered the extended bidding war for Caverion between Bain and Triton in 2022 and 2023, here and here. Strategic Rationale The acquisition of Caverion by Assemblin Group AB creates a stronger, more diversified, and resilient group. Clear market-leading positions are achieved in all Assemblin’s current geographies coupled with geographical diversification […]

UK architecture and design firm Aukett Swanke, announced yesterday that it had acquired certain assets of recently liquidated RTS via its subsidiary, the Torpedo Factory Group (TFG). Founded in 2006, RTS is a UK-based master system integrator and smart building software provider for commercial real estate, trading as Vanti. TFG has paid £37,000 ($47,000) for the assets, with an additional up to £50,000 ($63,000) payable over the next 18 months dependent on meeting certain financial performance conditions deriving from the transfer and retention of certain RTS clients. Aukett Swanke has committed to take on RTS’ staff, to be based in a new Birmingham office, which will form part of the expanding group’s smart buildings offering. Overall TGF is raising up to £425,000 ($537,000) through the issue of new equity, for the purposes of generating working capital for its increased scale. Around £275,000 ($347,000) is being raised by way of direct subscriptions by certain existing and […]