It may not be the sexiest subject, but facilities management is at the heart of any business with physical premises: the larger that footprint, the more complex it becomes.

Portuguese start-up Infra-language decided to solve this problem with an all-in-one platform that gives facility managers and associated service providers insight and operational control over everything that happens in a given location.

Founded in 2015, Infraspeak has so far raised around $20 million in funding and secured high-profile clients such as KFC, Intercontinental and Primark. And to drive its next phase of growth, the Porto-based startup announced on Monday that it had raised an additional 18 million euros ($19.5 million) in Series B funding.

Many moving parts

Consider a healthcare company with myriad departments, equipment, and contractors covering various disciplines such as maintenance and cleaning: there are many things that need to be coordinated and managed.

“Managing all these moving parts is challenging and the stakes are pretty high,” Infraspeak co-founder and CEO, Felipe Avila da Costatold TechCrunch. “They (facilities managers) have to keep track of everything from preventive maintenance schedules, work orders, cleaning tasks, contractor communication, air quality management, level agreements service, room preparation and performance reporting, whilst ensuring compliance with health and safety standards. »

Of course, businesses were managing all of this long before the digital age, but the task still required significant manual processes and systems that were disparate and prone to human error. Even in more recent times, businesses could combine disparate spreadsheets and software designed for specific tasks.

This brings us to the heart of what Infraspeak is building: a centralized channel that connects the dots between systems and processes, allowing all stakeholders to collaborate in one place.

This is made possible thanks to a shared workspace, called Infra-Parole Network. In addition to allowing facility managers to manage internal work such as construction operations and connecting teams, the workspace is also directly linked to external service providers: allowing managers to request quotes from suppliers , integrate them, assign work orders and track progress. Service providers, on the other hand, can use Infraspeak to send quotes, communicate with customers, share operational data and much more.

“As a collaborative facilities management platform, Infraspeak enables facilities teams to manage entire operations cohesively – it enables facilities managers, staff and contractors to collaborate in a digital workspace shared,” da Costa said. “Whether it’s sharing real-time data, managing work orders, or tracking task execution, every stakeholder is connected, reducing communication issues and bottlenecks.

With the rise of remote workit would be easy to assume that the demand for technologies to help manage commercial buildings may not be as high as it once was. Ignoring the fact that many companies are require workers to return to their desksThe truth is that there are countless facilities that require management outside of office buildings – from shopping malls and hospitals to airports and factories.

“The trend toward remote work has not had a significant impact on our business,” da Costa said. “On the contrary, remote working has made cloud-based facility management software more essential: it allows operational managers to control multiple facilities without constantly being on site. And if we consider one of the main factors behind the remote working trend, namely the pandemic, the importance of this type of software becomes even clearer, as it helps manage occupancy buildings, enforce health and safety protocols, or adjust cleaning schedules based on space usage.

Complexities

Infraspeak competes with other startups such asMaintainX, InterviewAnd Facilioall of which have raised significant venture capital investments in recent years, indicating a growing demand for better facilities management tools. Da Costa also highlighted a number of factors that could be driving this demand, including the increasing complexity of building management due to the fact that they now have more devices and data than ever before.

At the same time, companies are under increasing pressure to optimize their operations to meet strict sustainability and ESG targets.

“Across the board, buildings now tend to have more advanced systems, stricter regulations, extensive supplier networks, growing sustainability concerns, and pressures to be cost-effective and transparent to building users ” said da Costa.

Infraspeak has around 182 employees (or “Infraspeakers”, as it calls them…) spread across offices in Porto, London, Barcelona and Florianópolis, with some employees based remotely elsewhere in South America and Europe. With the $19.5 million fresh in the bank, the company plans to increase its workforce by an additional 100 people in 2025, including C-level positions such as chief revenue officer.

Europe remains Infraspeak’s main focus for now, but the startup is also expanding into South America and Africa. Although the company does not officially operate in the US market, it claims “a small number” of US customers, which could provide a basis for further expansion – it may well need to raise more capital. money for this.

“We plan to raise our Series C by 2025, and entering and conquering the US market will definitely be our plan between now and then,” da Costa said.

Infraspeak’s Series B round was led by Endeit Capital, with participation from Bright Pixel Capital, Caixa Capital, Innovation Nest and Indico Capital Partners.