French start-up Witco, provider of a smart building app, has secured $14m (£10.3m) in Series A funding as it prepares to launch in the UK.
The latest cash boost came from new investors Daphni, Eurazeo, UL Invest, and business angels joining Naxicap (a €3bn VC fund) who also invested in earlier funding rounds.
The company said it also intends to use the funds to facilitate its international expansion into Germany and Spain.
“This latest funding endorses our offer, which is critical in an era of mixed building use and the need for flexible space,” said Eliane Lugassy (pictured), co-founder and CEO of Witco. “As the function of the office changes, we will redefine the work and home experience, and we are committed to improving the wellbeing of employees and residents, supporting the effectiveness of building operations and the companies and organisations they house.”
Many companies are providing similar digital services, such as meeting room reservations, identity verification, parking management and maintenance, said Paul Bazin and Pierre-Eric Leibovici of Daphni.
“Witco has succeeded in bringing all these services together in a single white label application for all building users,” they added. “Asset managers will add value to their buildings through the digitisation of many services for the well-being of their occupants.”
Catherine Guizol, director of innovation and workplace transformation at Ipsen, said: “At the end of 2020, we chose the solution developed by Witco [formerly MonBuilding] to become our global workplace application, centralising all services for our employees. Already deployed on three sites [France, UK and Canada], we were seduced by its ease of use for employees. Accessible from their smartphones, we see this application as a business companion for employees, enriching their employee experience by making it easier to organise their working day and travel to other sites using the app."
Witco has strengthened in recent years and now has 50 employees across three of its office locations in Paris, Lyon and Madrid. The company serves clients across 200 cities in over 800 buildings and is used by 5,000 companies.
