A note from our CEO and Co-Founder, Alex Birch
Five years ago, my co-founder Luke Murray and I set out on a journey to change the way people across the world work for the better by improving how people experience the physical workspace. The problem we saw time and again was that there was so much friction in offices (typically a company’s second or third largest expense), it inhibited people’s ability to function productively. Consistently, the underlying reason was a lack of actionable, accurate data about how people actually use the spaces they work in. And so XY Sense was born.
Fast forward five years, three years of R&D, and an official launch closely followed by a global pandemic, and the need for this technology has never been greater. I’m proud to say that XY Sense is going from strength to strength, and today we announced that we’ve secured a total of US$10M so that we can deliver on the rapidly increasing demand we’re seeing around the world and roll out our privacy-first sensor technology – the most advanced sensor available on the market – in workplaces globally.
The financing has two components
Firstly, we’ve raised a US$10M Pre-Series A round, led by InterValley Ventures. We’re thrilled to welcome back our returning investor, Blackbird, and welcome our new strategic investor, JCI Ventures – the corporate venture arm of Johnson Controls. We’ve also secured AU$2.75M in venture credit financing from OneVentures specifically for inventory purchases. This enables us to secure supply and provide our customers with industry-leading dispatch times on orders, despite continued global supply chain challenges.
Johnson Controls is excited to work with XY Sense. As the leading provider of smart, healthy and sustainable building solutions, we seek to deploy best-in-class solutions enabling smart and digital buildings. XY Sense’s anonymous occupancy sensor technology can be integrated into our OpenBlue digital offering, a complete suite of connected solutions that delivers impactful sustainability, healthy occupant experiences and respectful safe and secure environments for our global customer base.
Rain Cui, Senior Director of JCI Ventures.
This funding comes off the back of a huge few years
Since officially launching in 2020 with sensors in Australia only, we’re now powering workplaces in 14 countries for some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including CBRE, Xero, Mirvac and Fidelity International, as well as leading global financial and pharmaceutical firms. We experienced a 300% increase in revenue in 2021 following global rollouts by large enterprise clients, and as of June 30, 2022, we’ve already doubled our annual revenue.
We couldn’t roll XY Sense’s solution out across our global portfolio fast enough. We’re now getting the actionable, real-time insights we need to make informed space decisions with confidence in a rapidly changing environment. Ultimately this is enabling us to drive utilization and identify areas for cost reductions, and create higher levels of engagement among our team.
Joel Oldridge, Executive General Manager – Workplace Experience, Xero
I’d love to take this moment to recognize our incredible team and the dedication they’ve shown to building our business, particularly with many living through one of the world’s hardest lockdowns and grappling with the ongoing stress of the pandemic. I’d also like to thank our customers who have joined us so far – your support, feedback, and partnership have been invaluable and we’re excited to continue to grow with you.
So, what comes next?
Our team remains focused on giving workplace teams the insights to create the best office experiences, drive utilization, and optimize their global portfolios. We’re also excited to expand more broadly across North America and EMEA and broaden our platform of next-generation sensor technology – remaining true to our DNA of being privacy-first from the ground up in every product we build.
There’s much work to be done, but we have the right team and investor partners to do it. I can’t wait for what’s to come.
Cheers,
Alex
Interested in learning more about how XY Sense can help you optimize your workplace? Request a demo with our team today.
