UK firm Laiier has raised £1.7m in seed funding to reduce costs associated with damage and inefficiencies in smart buildings through early warnings for events such as water leaks.

Laiier was launched last year by founders Matt Johnson, Isabel Lizardi and Bibi Nelson. Its Surface to Cloud platform is said to address use cases that other sensor platforms cannot, and can outfit everything from an in-construction new build to a centuries-old landmark.

“Our vision is to reduce waste, cost and impact by generating data from the surface of the smart building and facility in real time, creating a truly hybrid physical-digital skin embedded in construction materials,” said Johnson.

The company’s aims to create physical and digital functionality on surfaces across the building, turning floors, ceilings and walls into a mesh network of sensors that monitor a building’s vital signs round the clock.

Laiier is launching with a focus on water leaks, representing 40% of commercial insurers’ annual claims, with over £1bn paid out annually in the UK alone. The firm has built a catalogue of blue-chip customers in commercial property insurance, systems integration and construction materials. These describe the Surface to Cloud platform as smart tapes and stickers that install like a second skin onto the smart building or facility, delivering actionable data from buildings that were previously offline and in the dark.

The funding round was led by Mundi Ventures, with participation from Burnt Island Ventures. The money will be used to accelerate product development and build a team based in the company’s London headquarters.

“By bringing data from a physical to a digital domain, Laiier gives building managers, facility operators, infrastructure owners and insurers clarity on the health of their buildings,” said Eric Slesinger, head of investments at Mundi Ventures. “The Laiier team has built technical expertise that lets them put sensors where others cannot, collect data others can’t access, and ultimately paint an accurate picture of building health that others can’t see. The team is mitigating risk to the built world as the natural one around us continues to change, and we’re proud to support them.”

Tom Ferguson, managing partner at Burnt Island Ventures, added: “Matt, Bibi, Isabel and the Laiier team have built an exceptional solution to a giant pain point in the buildings industry, with clear expansion potential across a wide range of use cases. We’re delighted to help support this next phase of growth for this vital company.”