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This Research Note examines what’s behind HqO’s decision to acquire the Symbiosy platform from HB Reavis. We review the deal in the context of HqO’s tenant experience and workplace management strategy and assess their strategic partnerships and investments in the last two years. HqO Profile Founded in 2018, Boston, US-based HqO offers a Real Estate Experience (REX) Platform at over 700 properties across 32 countries and over 400 million square feet. LinkedIn reports 160 employees. HqO’s commercial clients include Columbia Property Trust, Vornado Realty Trust, Nuveen Real Estate, Jamestown L.P., Hudson Pacific Properties, Grosvenor, Landsec, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and Endurance Land. In October 2023, HqO raised over $50 million in Series D funding to fuel the company’s mission to disrupt the real estate industry. The funding round was led by Koch Real Estate Investments with participation from many of the company’s existing investors, leading venture capital and commercial real estate firms including Accomplice, Insight […]

This Research Note highlights our analysis of investment levels raised by smart buildings startups and established players in 2023 from venture capital firms, private equity and strategic investors. We review investment in the smart buildings space in the context of the broader proptech sector, assess funding for startup companies, the role of corporate investors and provide our 2024 outlook. Smart Buildings VC and PE Funding The smart buildings space witnessed significant growth in funding over the past 7 years, but 2023 marked a turning point with 37% less investment than a year earlier. While investment continued at a relatively high level in 2022, a considerable decline in funding was evident in 2023, back to 2019 pre-pandemic levels in the context of a tightening investment landscape and a continuing economic slowdown. Memoori recorded a 26% decrease in investment volumes, amounting to 275 funding rounds in 2023 compared to 372 in 2022 while investment values in the […]

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 […]

This Research Note reviews Carrier’s announcement to divest its commercial refrigeration business to Chinese manufacturer, Haier. This transaction is part of a series of divestments, brought about by the acquisition of Viessmann Climate Solutions. The state of play of Carrier’s portfolio transformation activities is assessed including the exit of the fire and security businesses. Carrier Commercial Refrigeration Transaction On 13 December 2023, Carrier announced a definitive agreement to sell their Commercial Refrigeration (CCR) business to Haier for $775 million (about 16.5X EBITDA). There is some discrepancy between the Carrier and Haier purchase price announcements on this transaction. Haier has valued its 100% equity acquisition at approximately $640 million which, it says, represents 11x P/E. Carrier reported the deal gave its commercial refrigeration business an enterprise value of $775 million, including about $200 million of net pension liabilities. Carrier Commercial Refrigeration has more than 4,000 global employees and a sales and service network spanning Europe and […]