New York-based Runwise has raised $55m to scale its smart operating system for buildings.

The fresh capital will support product innovation, team expansion and entry into new core markets. The raise brings Runwise’s total funding to $79m.

“Most buildings – old and new – still run on 1960s technology, wasting billions of dollars, making living and working in cities less safe and comfortable, and generating massive amounts of CO₂,” said Jeff Carleton, chief executive officer of Runwise.

Runwise is installed in more than 10,000 buildings across the USA, serving upwards of 1000 customers, including real-estate owner-operators such as Related, Equity Residential, First Service Residential, MTA, Port Authority, National Grid, Rudin, LeFrak, UDR, Douglas Elliman and Akam. These assets have collectively saved over $100m in energy costs to-date.

“Runwise delivers exactly what building operators need: real savings and simplicity,” said John Skipper, director of energy management at First Service Residential (www.fsresidential.com). “More than 150 of our buildings have installed Runwise, and in most buildings we have seen up to 30% in energy savings, while making the buildings more comfortable and easier to manage. It’s a win for affordability, a win for operations and a win for the environment.”

Runwise’s vertically integrated platform combines proprietary hardware, wireless connectivity and cloud-based software to automate and optimise building operations. With rapid deployment and a typical payback period of under five months, it makes the economics of installing a smart operating system for buildings work.

“Every building needs to be rebuilt with software, not bricks,” said Lee Hoffman, president of Runwise. “That’s what we’re doing at Runwise, transforming outdated infrastructure into intelligent systems that can be installed in a day, paid back in months and scaled across entire portfolios.”

The round was led by venture capital firm Menlo Ventures with participation from new investors MassMutual Ventures, Nuveen Real Estate, Multiplier Capital and Munich Re Ventures, alongside returning backers Soma Capital, Alumni Ventures, Helium-3, Cooley and Fifth Wall. Steve Sloane, partner at Menlo Ventures (menlovc.com), will join Runwise’s board of directors as part of this investment.

“Over the next decade, there will only be two types of company: those that drive AI innovation and those that enable AI to transform the physical world,” said Sloane. “Runwise is perfectly positioned at the intersection of these forces, bridging the critical gap between AI and the built environment. Their platform is fundamentally changing how buildings operate, creating smarter, more sustainable spaces at scale. We’re excited to partner with Runwise as they bring this transformative tech to new heights.”

This round was twice oversubscribed. Since its seed round, the company has grown over 30 times and is on track to nearly double again this year, driven by demand for products that deliver tangible RoI, operational simplicity and environmental impact.

“This round gives us the fuel to accelerate that mission and become the global default for the real estate industry,” said Mike Cook, chief growth officer at Runwise.

Runwise says it is the most capitalised and widely deployed smart building platform in the USA, setting a standard for how smart buildings operate, proving that the future of infrastructure runs on software.

Runwise (www.runwise.com) operates heating, cooling, electric and water systems intelligently, helping real-estate owners and operators cut energy costs, boost safety, automate management and reduce emissions at scale. The firm was founded in 2010 by Jeff Carleton, Lee Hoffman and Michael Cook.