Singapore-based proptech startup SensorFlow scores $8.3M Series A+ funding to make smart energy-efficient hotels a reality

SensorFlow, a Singapore’s leading proptech startup that helps hotels and commercial properties optimize their energy and operational efficiency, has raised $8.3 million in a Series A+ round to develop solutions for automating heating systems, innovations that help hotels manage COVID-19, and international market expansion. The round was led by Openspace Ventures and Gaw Capital Partners.

Founded in 2016 by Saikrishnan Ranganathan, SensorFlow is a Singapore government-funded startup that offers buildings, including hotels, offices and industrial spaces, the ability to automate HVAC systems, monitor equipment performance, and optimize housekeeping routes through an Internet of Things (IoT) technology and artificial intelligence-driven solution. SensorFlow provides a smart wireless IoT solution that monitors, analyzes and automates your hotel room environment. Its solution uses wireless sensors to track environmental changes for smart and responsive A/C automation.

The solution generates up to 30 to 50 percent of savings on hotel room HVAC costs, which can translate up to 30 percent in savings on total hotel energy bills. Following its Series A+ round, SensorFlow will develop its solution to automate HVAC systems with heating features to address the needs of markets with colder climates. To date, SensorFlow has been signed on by about 10,000 hotel rooms across Southeast Asia, and recorded a 1,000 percent increase in hotel room installations since 2019.

The funding will be also used to further develop the company’s smart building management solution for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and launch in the United States this year. The funds will also be used to hire new talent in hardware and data science roles as well as to expand to new global markets.

SensorFlow’s latest funding round was co-led by Openspace Ventures and Gaw Capital Partners, which invest in early-stage technology companies in Southeast Asia and global real estate markets respectively. Other prominent investors who featured in the round were Aurum Investments – a proptech focused venture capital fund, and Pierre Lorient.

“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. Our technology can help hotels and properties maximize the use of limited resources, adopt clean technologies, and become more sustainable. SensorFlow’s solutions can thus help clients save costs in the longer term and bounce back faster from the pandemic’s economic effects,” said Saikrishnan Ranganathan, CEO and Co-Founder of SensorFlow.

“Climate change has largely altered our lifestyle choices, and travellers in the US have become more environmentally conscious. In the past year, we have seen a significant increase in the number of hotels partnering with us across Southeast Asia to achieve better efficiency and sustainability. This is highly encouraging and places us in a much stronger position to develop our solution further to meet demand in new key markets such as Japan, Australia, Europe and the US. Through our smart automation solution, we want to make advanced sustainability technologies the new standard in the global hospitality industry,” added Saikrishnan Ranganathan.

“We are committed to supporting startups that develop innovative technologies to transform the way we operate,” said Gervin Yang, VP Investments at Openspace Ventures. “SensorFlow’s cutting-edge solution leads to energy and operational efficiency gains that contribute to substantial cost savings. This is especially important in the current climate and can be adopted by any property manager looking to increase profitability as well as to reduce their impact on the environment.”

SensorFlow’s smart wireless IoT solution features real-time data tracking to help properties monitor energy consumption trends and make better-informed operational decisions based on big data. Wireless sensors gather data on guest behavior within hotel rooms and the system optimizes energy usage automatically. It activates maintenance alerts when it detects faulty equipment, reducing disruptions to the guest experience. The solution can be easily retrofitted into any room (hotel or industrial) in under five minutes, eliminating any downtime during installation.