By Joshua Burd
A firm that provides software for building management and energy efficiency has raised $3.5 million in venture funding to help expand its footprint and its trademark technology.
The Livingston-based company, Logical Buildings, recently announced the completion of a Series C-1 offering that will provide additional investment into its building energy management platform. Known as SmartKit AI, the mobile interface seeks to optimize building performance and improve property management decisions by combining real-time utility and grid data with building mechanical and WiFi-enabled sensor data.
The new funding will also support Logical Buildings’ expansion to new geographies.
“The SmartKit AI platform is increasing property valuations by providing our expanding user base of property owners with new sources of revenue, cost reduction and improved work-flow management tools,” said Jeff Hendler, CEO of Logical Buildings. “Linking real-time data insights with actionable digital protocols to generate a net increase in NOI is a game-changing capability we provide our clients.”
The funding round comes as Logical Buildings saw 60 SmartKit AI contracts and deployments in the fourth quarter of 2018, which represented a 35 percent increase. That growth comprised 10 new clients adopting the platform — including the likes of Stonehenge, Bozzuto, Dermot and L+M Development Partners — and existing clients such as AvalonBay, Invesco and Greystar expanding their services.
That momentum caused the C-1 round to be oversubscribed, the firm said in a news release. According to Hendler, the growth of SmartKit AI is fueled by the convergence of energy grid decentralization, building systems’ digital transformation and the expansion of sensors and other internet-connected devices that can send and receive data.
The mobile cloud platform integrates with existing building management systems, next-generation smart devices and voice activation services to augment on-site property management capabilities, the news release said. Doing so enhances tenant comfort and property resiliency.
Logical Buildings will also use the new funding to expand partnerships with utilities, so-called internet of things platforms and telecommunications companies.
“The opportunity for utilities is massive,” said David Klatt, Logical Building’s senior vice president of operations. “As millions of residential and commercial consumers move to time-of-use energy rates made possible by smart meter deployment over the next few years, the need for engaging, consumer-friendly energy management platforms that incorporate non-utility, IoT data is greater than ever.
“At the same time, with a growing share of energy generation assets on U.S. grids being intermittent — including wind and solar — energy demand management is an increasingly crucial tool for utility operators to balance local distribution networks.”
Hendler said Logical Buildings’ goals for 2019 call for continued growth within the company’s existing Northeast and West Coast markets, as well as expansion to Texas, Illinois, Florida and Canadian deregulated markets such as Ontario.
