Singapore-based proptech startup SensorFlow has raised USD 8.3 million in a Series A+ round led by Openspace Ventures and Gaw Capital, the company announced on Thursday.
SensorFlow will use the fresh investment to further develop its smart building management solution for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. The company will also expand its hardware and data science team, as well as bringing its business into new markets globally. SensorFlow plans to expand its portfolio of clients and place their technology in around one million rooms worldwide by 2023.
Series A in February 2019
This round follows SensorFlow’s Series A funding in February 2019 from private investor and finance sector veteran Pierre Lorinet, with participation from Cocoon Capital and Playfair Capital.
SensorFlow helps hotels and commercial properties optimize their energy by providing a smart wireless IoT solution that monitors, analyzes, and automates the hotel room environment. It includes real-time tracking to help properties spot energy consumption trends and make better-informed operational decisions based on big data. According to the company, SensorFlow’s products generate 30% to 50% of savings in hotel room HVAC costs, which can translate in up to 30% of savings on hotel energy bills.
The need to optimize energy and operational efficiency in the hospitality sector is especially important as the industry is battling with COVID-19, according to the firm’s co-founder and CEO Saikrishnan Ranganathan. “Our technology can help hotels and properties maximize the use of limited resources, adopt clean technologies, and become more sustainable,” he said in an official statement.
Founded in 2016, SensorFlow has so far been used in around 10,000 hotel rooms across Southeast Asia. It recorded a 1,000% increase in hotel room installations since 2019. The company also announced that during the pandemic, it will support clients by implementing floating payment models, rather than insisting on fixed payments.
SensorFlow further said that it is adding new features to its “productivity suite,” promising improvements in operational efficiency, inter-team communication, and sustainability management. For instance, the “housekeeping view” monitors live occupancy data to help hotel staff optimize cleaning routes. Engineering teams will receive data to generate performance benchmarks, develop predictive maintenance strategies, and resolve HVAC issues on the spot.