Smart building app Witco launches in the UK with $14m in Series A funding

Witco’s cash boost signals international expansion 

Work and living spaces to be transformed with a single app  

October , 2021 Witco, the Smart building app, has launched in the UK with $14m in Series A funding. The tech start-up enables commercial and residential buildings, through a single app, to be more serviced, flexible and collaborative for an enhanced customer experience. 

Witco’s flexible tech solution is an exciting opportunity for British building managers, owners, HR managers and tenants needing responsive working and living spaces, clear lines of communication, and a real-time understanding of building use. These needs have been emphasised by the pandemic, which saw the mass adoption of remote and hybrid working.  

Founded in France and formally known as MonBuilding, Witco’s white-label technology is used in offices, co-working, co-living spaces, and residential housing for students and seniors. The app, with over 50 customisable modules, uses real-time data to enable building owners, HR and workplace managers to adapt and organise their premises’ service offerings, as well as communicating with tenants, employees, and residents and responding to their needs.  

Witco helps clients across 200 cities, in over 800 buildings and is used by 5000 companies, enjoying an 80% adoption rate. Through a mobile application and a desktop companion, Witco has developed the first app that centralises all the services offered to occupants to improve the experience of their workplace or living space. Witco enables companies to respond to the new expectations of their employees, supplying flexibility, personalisation and comfort. Companies can choose the functionalities of the Witco application according to their needs, including room, office or gym reservations, problem reporting, visitor management, internal messaging, event organisation and more.  

The $14m Series A funding comes from new investors Daphni, Eurazeo, UL Invest, and business angels, joining Naxicap (a €3bn VC fund) who also invested in earlier funding rounds. The latest cash boost will help launch Witco in the UK and expand into Germany and Spain. 

Co-founder and CEO of Witco Eliane Lugassy said: “This latest funding endorses our offer, which is critical in an era of mixed building use and the need for flexible space. As the function of the office changes, we will redefine the work and home experience and are committed to improving the wellbeing of employees and residents, supporting the effectiveness of building operations and the companies and organisations they house.” 

Robin Rivaton, Venture Smart City Investment Director, Eurazeo said: “Our investment in Witco is in line with our Smart City thesis to make cities more sustainable and resilient. Recreating meaning and community in office spaces is essential to improve the quality of life in the city in a context of rapid transformation with the rise of flexible workspaces and teleworking.”  

Paul Bazin and Pierre-Eric Leibovici of Daphni said: “Many digital services have emerged to facilitate the use of office buildings, from meeting room reservations and identity verification to parking management.  maintenance and more. Witco has succeeded in bringing all these services together in a single white label application for all building users. 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 & 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.” 

Eliane Lugassy, co-founder and CEO of Witco, added: “Since the beginning of the pandemic, companies have had to change the way they operate, implementing widespread remote working. The challenge now is to design a hybrid model that meets employees’ expectations while maintaining team cohesion and motivation. Hybrid working requires companies to adapt. We are pleased to have a privileged position as we were advising our clients on this direction even before the arrival of Covid. We have an expertise and agility that few players have” 

Witco has 50 employees in its offices in Paris, Lyon and Madrid and has gone from strength to strength in recent years. A finalist of the PropTech Europe Awards 2020, Witco won the Bouygues Viva Tech Award and has featured on the Wavestone Smart Building Startups radar since 2019.