The Weekly Smart Building Briefing - #34 2024
Latest Research & Insights
Carrier Portfolio Transformation: Exit of Commercial & Residential Fire Businesses
This Research Note reviews Carrier’s announcement to divest its commercial and residential fire business to an affiliate of Lone Star Funds for an enterprise value of $3 Billion.
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, followed by our analysis of the Carrier commercial fire detection businesses, GST, and Edwards.
Equans Energy Services Business & Financials Examined
This Research Note examines Equans, a €18.8 billion business unit of Bouyges group, which offers a wide range of multi-technical services that contribute to increasing the overall performance of buildings.
We review the Bouyges acquisition details, the services portfolio, and the geographic footprint of the business before highlighting recent Digital activities, partnerships, and investments in the smart buildings space.
Interoperability for Big Data to Drive AI into Buildings?
Few places in the world have a more challenging mix of climate politics and aging building stock than Europe. In an effort to meet its various climate goals, the European Union has instigated, funded, and supported a wide variety of projects designed to reduce the impact of buildings on the environment.
In this research note, we take an in-depth look at one such project, MATRYCS, which seeked to harness the power of big data to drive artificial intelligence into building energy management.
Proptech firm VTS lays off 20% of staff
VTS made cuts totaling 20 percent of its workforce last week, a spokesperson confirmed to The Real Deal. VTS reached a valuation of $1.7 billion in 2022 when it landed a $125 million funding round led by CBRE. It was seen as a big bet that VTS’ technology would be in high demand for landlords looking to attract tenants in the new hybrid work paradigm.
The company’s services — which include technologies for property owners to market spaces and to help businesses operate their offices — reportedly generated more than $100 million in revenue.
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Funding & Investments
Actuate Secures $11.5 Million in Funding to Advance AI-Powered Remote Video Guarding
Actuate, a vendor of computer vision technology for remote video guarding, announced the closing of an $11.5 million funding round. Actuate's AI solutions enable remote video guarding operations, allowing a handful of operators to effectively monitor thousands of cameras.
Livly Secures $10M in Private Equity to Drive PropTech Innovation
Livly, a provider of technology-driven residential management platforms, announced the successful completion of a third investment round. The $10M in funding will support several new initiatives designed to increase net operating income for developers, property operators, and third-party property management companies.
This Startup aims to Decarbonize Big Buildings without Hassling Tenants
As a finalist in the state’s Empire Technology Prize, startup Hydronic Shell Technologies won $250,000 — with the potential for $750,000. Hydronic Shell tech encapsulates heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment into prefabricated insulated panels that can be bolted to a building’s exterior.
Tiled on a building facade like Tetris pieces, the panels will seamlessly connect to electric, central air-source heat pumps on the roof or ground-source heat pumps in the basement and deliver heating and cooling through a water-based system.
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M&A & Partnerships
What’s Behind the Acquisition of NFS Technology by Korbyt?
This Research Note examines what’s behind Korbyt’s latest move to acquire NFS Technology. We review the deal in the context of the workplace experience and resource scheduling software sectors, highlighting the strategic rationale for the acquisition and assessing the market trends and consolidation in the overall workplace technology market.
Budderfly Acquires Sunverge’s Distributed Energy Resource Management Platform
Budderfly announced that it has acquired a grid-edge distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) from Sunverge Energy. Using Sunverge’s technology, Budderfly can aggregate distributed energy resources (DERS) across its sites, positioning it to create virtual power plants (VPPs) capable of providing flexibility to the grid.
With greater control over its energy infrastructure value chain, from equipment installation to billing, Budderfly is creating an end-to-end VPP.
Roper Technologies acquires Transact Campus for $1.5 billion
Roper Technologies, Inc., a diversified technology company, announced it's acquiring Transact Campus Inc., a campus technology solutions provider, for a net purchase price of $1.5 billion.
Transact Campus provides services, including campus ID software, access management, tuition processing, and point-of-sale solutions for campuses in higher education, healthcare, and corporate sectors. The acquisition is projected to contribute approximately $325 million in revenue.
Aliaxis Acquires Johnson Controls’ CPVC Pipe & fittings Business for Residential and Light Commercial Sprinkler Systems
Aliaxis SA, a company enabling access to water and energy through innovative fluid management solutions, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the manufacturing assets of the Johnson Controls CPVC pipe and fittings business for residential and light commercial sprinkler systems.
The deal is subject to customary closing conditions. Both parties anticipate a completion of the transaction over the coming weeks. The financial details of this acquisition will not be disclosed.
Rhombus & Convergint Partnership Expands Global Physical Security Footprint
Rhombus, a provider of cloud-managed physical security, announced a strategic partnership with Convergint, an integrated security services company. The collaboration underscores Rhombus' continued investment in delivering security solutions to organizations worldwide. Rhombus has secured an additional $71 million in equity investments in 2024.
Technology Developments
AI can cut Smart Building Energy Management by over 19%
Using AI and open access data can reduce the energy consumption in buildings by more than 19% says a new report. Exergio in Lithuania is pointing to the best-case scenario that can collectively lead to energy savings reaching up to 40% in a smart building. A site in Poznan, Poland, using the Exergio AI platform achieved 20% reductions in energy waste in real world conditions.
Beyond the hype - AI can already create value for Access Control Companies
As the initial AI hype cools, businesses are now focusing on concrete use cases where AI can deliver immediate value. Apart from video and biometrics-based systems, few examples of successful AI implementations have been shown in the Physical Access Control industry.
While many companies are still chasing the dream of AI for various use cases, there are areas where it's already making a significant impact — particularly in customer service.
Scenera MAIstro's AI-Powered AIoT Data Solution with Microsoft Copilot For Facility Management
Scenera, an AIoT data management company specializing in data orchestration from edge to cloud with its AI Topology Management, launches its adoption of Microsoft Copilot, for property and facility management.
Scenera MAIstro is an innovative SaaS platform for facility management that streamlines and improves the deployment, management and orchestration of analytical AI models.
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