Finnish IoT and product development company Haltian is acquiring Empathic Building from digital services and software company TietoEvry. Empathic Building will become part of Haltian’s IoT business.

Haltian’s international IoT networks will give a push for the international growth of Empathic Building and complete Haltian smart building offering. The companies have worked together with smart offices for a long time.

“The acquisition of the Empathic Building service is a natural next step in our close collaboration as the business excellently complements our IoT services business,” said Pasi Leipälä, Haltian CEO and co-founder. “We are excited to jointly create new innovations to improve the user experience of work environments. Next, we will focus on ensuring a smooth transition for both employees and Empathic Building customers. Together with the Empathic Building team, we will use the data collected from working environments and make offices smart, user-friendly and empathic all over the world.”

Empathic Building is a human-centric smart building offering that started as an internal start-up at TietoEvry. Its applications are based on the data collected from the facilities. The purpose of the service is to make daily working life easier by helping employees thrive, co-operate and perform better. It includes a digital twin of the facilities; a virtual map from which one can, for example, see free meeting rooms and workspaces.

“Thanks to our long-term collaboration, Haltian is a natural home for Empathic Building’s further development,” said Tomi Teikko, who will continue to be responsible for the Empathic Building business after it transfers to Haltian. “Haltian’s IoT and data collection will bring new unmatched opportunities for the further enrichment of Empathic Building’s offering and its international growth. We will continue to accelerate office digitalisation of all our customers, including now also TietoEvry. We have always been open to co-operating with different application and device providers, and this will remain our strength in the future as well.”

Empathic Building installations are already found in 16 different countries. Its products can also make offices safer.

“Right now, a safe return to the office is an important topic everywhere,” said Leipälä. “Smart solutions give the user a view to the number of people in the office and free workstations can be booked with the application from home. These kinds of solutions will help the return to the office significantly. We are proud to take Finnish high-tech knowledge out into the world. Empathic Building is an impressive service and, with it, Haltian will have a formidably wide offering for smart offices and buildings.”

Haltian has been providing device manufacturers with product design and engineering services since 2012. Thingsee, the IoT technology platform developed by Haltian, enables faster IoT launches for mass-scale deployments. In 2019, Haltian became an AWS Advanced Technology Partner as well as AWS IoT competency certified platform partner.

Haltian IoT customers include many global operators, such as Lindström and WL Gore. Haltian is also behind many global signature products, such as the Oura health ring.

TietoEvry is a digital services and software company headquartered in Finland. It employs around 24,000 experts globally. The company serves thousands of enterprise and public sector customers in more than 90 countries. Annual turnover is approximately €3bn.