NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Runwise, a leading building control company, today announced that it has raised $19 million in Series A funding, led by Fifth Wall with participation from several large real estate owners including Rudin Management, SOJA Ventures (The Swig Family / Halstead / Brown Harris Stevens), and The Strykers of Friedman Management and MCJ Collective, Derive Ventures, Helium-3, Silence VC, The Cannon Project as well as Waterman Ventures. Existing investors include Initialized Capital, Notation Capital, Susa Ventures and NextView Ventures. This round brings the total equity funding to $24 million.
Runwise was founded on the realization that antiquated building technology is responsible for over a third of wasted carbon emissions and that replacing inefficient and outdated technology would have a tremendous impact on the planet. Today, Runwise technology is installed in over 4,000 buildings with almost 400 customers – including many of the largest building owners and operators, such as Related, Blackstone, Lefrak, Equity Residential, Fairstead, and Douglas Elliman.
This investment will allow Runwise to continue expanding its operations and technology to buildings throughout the country, increasing building efficiency, lowering costs, and ultimately reducing fossil fuel emissions.
Last year, buildings retrofitted with Runwise’s technology saw on average a 20.1% reduction in fossil fuel emissions. This year, with the company’s continued growth, Runwise expects its technology will remove the equivalent of nearly 100,000 cars worth of carbon emissions off the road. In most buildings, the energy savings pays for the system in a handful of months.
“There is an aging building infrastructure crisis in the US. 45% of carbon emissions in most cities come from inefficient building operations, and almost all of these buildings are running on antiquated control infrastructure designed in the 1970s.” said Jeff Carleton, CEO of Runwise. “The smart property owners and managers have already realized that what’s good for the climate is now also good for their bottom line. This is why Runwise’s building control platform has already had a transformative impact on carbon emissions and affordability in 4,000+ buildings,” said Lee Hoffman, President of Runwise. “This new capital, combined with Fifth Wall’s large network of owners and operators, is going to help us bring the same levels of operational efficiency and carbon reduction to the rest of the 12 million buildings in the US,” said Mike Cook, Chief Growth Officer of Runwise.
“We’re thrilled to support Runwise and its goal of reducing carbon emissions produced by outdated building technology,” said Greg Smithies, Partner & Co-Head of Climate Tech at Fifth Wall. “Runwise is shining a light on building technology that most people take for granted, and we are proud to be a part of its growth.”
About Runwise: Runwise, formerly known as Heat Watch, is one of the nation’s leading building control services. Runwise’s mission is to enable buildings to run more efficiently using intelligent and easy-to-install wireless hardware and software. Runwise’s service controls key building systems in thousands of buildings across 10 states.
About Fifth Wall: Founded in 2016, Fifth Wall, a Certified B Corporation, is the largest venture capital firm focused on technology for the global real estate industry. With approximately $3.2 billion in commitments and capital under management, Fifth Wall connects many of the world’s largest owners and operators of real estate with the entrepreneurs who are redefining the future of the Built World. Fifth Wall is backed by a global mix of more than 100 strategic limited partners from more than 15 countries, including BNP Paribas Real Estate, British Land, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Hilton, Host Hotels & Resorts, Ivanhoé Cambridge, Kimco Realty Corporation, Lennar, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Marriott International, MetLife Investment Management, MGM Resorts, Related Companies, Starwood Capital, Toll Brothers and others. Fifth Wall believes this consortium represents one of the largest groups of potential partners in the global Built World ecosystem, which can result in transformational investments and collaborations with promising portfolio companies. For more information about Fifth Wall, its limited partners and portfolio, visit www.fifthwall.com.
