Boston-based property technology company HqO has acquired smart-office platform Symbiosy, a move that the company says will solidify its future in Europe.
HqO’s work centers around the commercial real estate experience for landlords, tenants, and employees working in the buildings. Tenants and landlords get data from the platform about how employees are using the office, and how to improve their experience. For employees, the platform provides a one-stop app that lets them check in, book amenities, and even monitor commute times.
The technology helps landlords level up what they offer to tenants and employees, allowing them to be more competitive.
Symbiosy was developed by international real estate developer HB Reavis. It provides detailed data to create better work environments.
The acquisition means that HB Reavis, a prominent landlord in Eastern Europe, will become a customer of HqO, Steve Dietz, vice president of product at HqO, said. He declined to provide financial terms of the agreement.
The acquisition has a dual benefit, both adding Symbiosy’s technology to HqO’s platform, and entering a larger part of that region’s market. Certain technologies in buildings, related to energy consumption, are expected in parts of Europe; Dietz said the acquisition was an easy way to add a host of them to HqO’s portfolio.
Symbiosy has a 3-D modeling technology that visualizes office space. “It brings to life physical assets in a way that occupiers really respond to,” Dietz said.
The acquisition focuses on benefits to operators in the commercial real estate market.
“Over the years we have added features for tenants. What this deal brings first and foremost for us is really flushing out the operator side of our products,” Dietz said.
HqO raised over $50 million in Series D funding in its latest round, the company announced in October. At the time, Greg Gomer, HqO's co-founder and CFO, told BostInno it would use the funding to focus on mergers and acquisitions.
Further acqusitions will be very opportunistic, said Dietz.
“We effectively have as much money as we need to do whatever we want in the future,” he said.
HqO also raised $60 million in Series C funding in 2021 and $34.2 million for a Series B round in 2019. The company was founded in 2018 by Gomer, Chase Garbarino, Kevin McCarthy and Jared Stenquist.
The Symbiosy acquisition expands where the HqO platform is used, increasing its presence in European business hubs including London and Berlin. It will add an HqO office In Bratislava, Dietz said.
The HqO platform is used at 700 properties in 32 countries, according to the company. This acquisition will add customer figures in the low dozens to the number of users, Dietz said.
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