SensorFlow, a Singapore based startup that focuses on helping hotels and commercial properties optimize operations and energy, has raised US$8.3 million in Series A+ round that was led by Gaw Capital Partners and Openspace Ventures.
Pierre Lorient, a private investor, and Aurum Investments, a Proptech-focused venture capital fund, also participated in the funding.
This new investment follows a US$2.7 million raise from Series A that was led by Playfair Capital and Lorient Cocoon Capital in February 2019.
SensorFlow was founded in 2016, and since then, it has been using AI and internet things to build automate heating and ventilation and air conditioning systems, as well as monitor the performance of the equipment and optimize housekeeping routes.
SensorFlow's wireless IoT solution gathers data on the behavior of guests within hotel rooms and then optimizes energy use automatically. The IoT solution also alerts one when there is a fault with the equipment, and according to SensorFlow, a solution can be retrofitted within five or so minutes.
It claims that its solutions can help a user save up to 30% in energy bills, and up to 40% of the money one would have used in maintenance.
The startup plans to use this new investment to hire hardware and expand its market in places such as Japan, Europe, Australia, and the US. The money will also be used to develop solutions that can automate heating systems and help hotels navigate through these tough economic times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It will develop new solutions such as housekeeping view that uses live occupancy data and can help hotels optimize cleaning routes. “For the hospitality sector, the need for optimizing energy and operational efficiency is especially pertinent now as it works on recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Saikrishnan Ranganathan, the co-founder, and CEO of the startup said.
“Our technology can help hotels and properties maximize the use of limited resources, adopt clean technologies, and become more sustainable,” he further added.
SensorFlow's solutions are currently being used by more than 10,000 hotel rooms in Southeast Asia, according to a statement. They aim to increase usage to about one million worldwide by 2023.
