Startup uses AI, IoT to improve building efficiency
Up until now, building owners haven't had the technology to handle multiple aspects of managing a building such as dealing with facility management vendors, equipment breakdowns and aligning tenant requests with facilities strategies. Facilio - headquartered in Atlanta with operations in Chennai - is a facilities optimisation platform that harnesses IoT and AI to drive real-time operational efficiency across real estate portfolios. The platform offers an all-in-one software suite to help facilities centrally manage maintenance, operations, sustainability and tenant experience in one place. Facilio claims to be the world's first facilities optimisation software that harnesses IoT and AI to leverage existing automation data and provide a superior facilities experience. It is built from the ground up, keeping in mind property owners and facility managers and to help them achieve real-time operational efficiency and sustainability across dispersed real estate portfolios. "We started UAE operations from a very early stage of market outreach, beginning in late 2017. We worked closely with some very large customers in the region from our early stage. We now have customers in domains ranging from smart cities, airlines, commercial real estate, etc.," said Prabhu Ramachandran, founder and chief executive officer, Facilio. The venture is a seed-stage business backed by Accel and raised a funding over $1 million in its first round. "We started with the idea of Facilio in early 2017, and within our first round of presenting the concept to Accel, we secured the funding required. This was the result of a planned and well-researched approach that indicated a sizeable industry potential as well as a growing niche and need for our solution. Globally, facilities services spend stands at close to over $1 trillion today and the energy spend is also close to the same," said Ramachandran. A recent analysis report by Verdantix, a leading global research consultancy specialising in energy, real estate, facilities and maintenance, estimates that the global market for software and related IT services in buildings is currently at $8 billion and expected to reach $12 billion by 2022. Facilio removes the operational silos that building owners and operators struggle with and instead provides a unified solution that combines efficient management of people, assets, sustainability and the tenant experience. And this portfolio-wide visibility allows building owners/operators as well as property and FM heads to be in the driver's seat, driving efficiency from a predictive standpoint versus a reactionary or preventive one.
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