On Wednesday, Washington, D.C.-based Aquicore held a ceremonial ribbon cutting event for their new office at 1015 1/2 7th Street NW, but the new office is far from the only exciting news the startup plans to unveil in 2015, CEO Logan Soya tells DC Inno. The developers of hardware and SaaS-based software to monitor energy consumption in commercial buildings will be doubling its staff of 23, with a focus on sales and business development teams. This year will also bring several major additions to Aquicore’s advisory board as part of an encompassing initiative to further growth.
“We recently added a few new members, including Revell Horsey who co-founded HelloWallet (recently acquired by Morningstar) brings a wealth of experience in financial expertise and business strategy, Ben Foster who was recently the head of product management at O-Power and helps to continue building our product strategy, development processes, and product talent, while Dmitri Mehlhorn who was former President of Bloomberg BNA Legal and helps us focus our go-to-market strategies, business development training and talent recruitment,” Soya told DC Inno.
Founded in 2013 by Soya, Aquicore targets commercial real estate (CRE) property managers and landlords who want to take advantage of savings and be able to bill tenants for utilities more efficiently. The company’s vision is to revolutionize the way building information is accessed, giving owners and property managers real time insight and actionable information to cut energy costs. As both a hardware and software data company, Aquicore currently deploys two products: AQ-Optimization and the AQ-Tenant Module. A major upgrade for the AQ-Tenant Module will be launching at the beginning of Q2, said Soya.
Regarding the upcoming hiring spree, Aquicore’s CEO and Founder said, “I'm always hoping to find a perfect match between what inspires someone and what the companies current needs are. It's always a good sign when the person feels like they've been there for 3 months after their first day. It's about maintaining a strong culture and finding outstanding people — it's top of mind to maintain that as we move into more accelerated hiring in the year to come.”
To date, Aquicore has raised $1.6 million and is now in active negotiations to potential pursue a further financing round. Soya said that while discussions continue, an important rubric for choosing investors will rely on their industry expertise, specifically relating to the CRE industry. Soya declined to comment on revenue figures and the names of prospective investors. He did note, however, that the company is excited to introduce 3 new, key advisory board members empowered with senior level responsibilities.
“Starting the company from the ground up has been an incredible cycle of learning and feedback. I'm not sure if I can point to a specific milestone, but getting customers really engaged with our product, providing us feedback and hearing their responses has been very inspiring. Also, finding great team members to continue building on our momentum has been an incredibly rewarding point of validation,” Soya told DC Inno.
One of the greatest challenges that the company faces is actually in educating the customer — providing answers to questions regarding how the technology and hardware can yield information that will lead to savings. While there are several early CRE adopters who advocate for their products, 2015 will a critical year for Aquicore as the company mobilizes efforts to reach new customers, grow brand influence and to develop a strong sales presence in the CRE market place.
