UK AI start-up Infogrid has raised $15.5m in series A funding from a combination of UK and US investors. The company’s technology automates facilities management to make existing buildings smart.

The funding will be used to accelerate Infogrid’s growth, particularly in the USA, that has already changed facilities management for the large FM providers, and many S&P 500 and FTSE 100 companies, including global banks, supermarkets, restaurant chains and the NHS.

The funding will help Infogrid achieve its mission to address the climate crisis by enabling businesses to reduce the environmental and social impact of their buildings while improving their bottom line and asset values.

Infogrid’s platform delivers on the promise of the IoT, making smart buildings simple, affordable and scalable. It combines real-time IoT sensors with proprietary AI analysis to translate data into insight. The output is then used to change the way people understand and operate buildings.

Managers can make decisions to improve their ESG score and drive energy efficiency, providing advances to reduce the CO₂ output of buildings, which account for 39% of global emissions. For example, for a global bank, Infogrid’s system is eliminating three metric tons of carbon emissions and thousands of litres of water wastage per building, annually, as well as reducing the time it takes to undertake compliance checks by 81%.

Infogrid has also been helping organisations respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 has increased demand for remotely managing buildings, gaining insights into the volume and movement of people in spaces, and using data to ensure clean and safe environments to comply with social distancing requirements for employees returning to work.

Infogrid can measure everything from the number of people in a room, to air quality and virus risk indicators for the improved wellbeing of employees and customers, even to helping reduce the risk of legionnaires disease in water pipes by automating compliance checks.

“Until now, the lack of viable and scalable technology has meant that facilities management is one of the last industries to be enhanced by digitisation, despite covering the world’s largest asset class,” said William Cowell de Gruchy, Infogrid’s founder and CEO. “Infogrid’s end-to-end smart building system finally arms organisations with insight to take control and take action. This new era of insight and automation will bring about a positive impact on the efficiencies of businesses, the wellbeing of employees, and the environmental footprint of buildings.”

The round was led by Northzone with participation from JLL Spark,Concrete VC, Venture Collective, Jigsaw VC, a global real estate investment group, and a large international asset owner.

“The backing of Northzone and other like-minded investors in this oversubscribed funding round is a vindication of our technology and will enable us to accelerate our growth as we lead real estate owners and the facility management industry in combating the climate crisis and environmental damage on a global scale,” said Cowell de Gruchy. “Helping in that fight is both a company and personal passion.”

Jeppe Zink, a partner at Northzone, added: “With the world undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history, the built environment already generates 39% of annual global carbon emissions. We were instantly drawn to Infogrid for its ability to future-proof buildings in the long term, through smart sensors and real-time data that have a major impact on limiting wasted energy as well as helping businesses cut down on manual maintenance efforts. But Infogrid’s real genius lies in their device-agnostic, AI-driven approach to making IoT products truly scalable through lowering costs and complexity, which isn’t something we’ve ever seen elsewhere. Coupled with a skilled founding team, we believe Infogrid will become the defining company of its category.”

Founded in 2018, Infogrid is making the promise of scalable IoT a reality. Combining small IoT sensors with AI, the platform helps facilities managers and estate owners optimise and automate their facilities and building management, saving time, money and the environment, while improving safety.

Northzone is an early-stage venture capital fund built on experience spanning multiple economic and technology cycles and has over $1.5bn under management. Founded in 1996, Northzone has raised nine funds and invested in more than 150 companies, including category-defining businesses such as Spotify, Hopin, iZettle, Avito, Kahoot, Klarna and Trustpilot.