Latest news with #ConnorHall
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Proptech firms pull in funding to ramp up AI tools
This story was originally published on Facilities Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Facilities Dive newsletter. The proptech sector has been busy this month, led by notable fundraises, products and service announcements — all underpinned by the promise that artificial intelligence will change the way buildings are managed. Three main needs are driving investment in proptech: better building data management, operational efficiencies and tenant experiences, Jason Smith, executive vice president of property management at JLL, said during a Building Engines webinar earlier this year. 'Some of the technologies are so advanced that they'll connect into the building operation systems, which lead to real-time monitoring of energy. They can tell you when to start up your large equipment, leading to cost reductions and other efficiencies for the building team,' Smith said. 'Technology [also] leads to reduced manual tasks, because you can set up automation for emailing, updating tenants on their service request, and ultimately, all this leads to the tenant experience enhancement.' AI in particular is expected to improve underwriting, asset selection and risk modeling for real estate investors, with the most investable proptech companies being those that solve challenges in real estate operations, according to a podcast featuring CBRE Head of Global Digital Partnerships Connor Hall and Fifth Wall CEO Brendan Wallace. Funding provided by commercial service firms is especially notable, as investing in proptech can give them early access to innovations that can help them enhance asset performance, reduce costs and create competitive differentiation, per the report. Here's a look at three proptech companies and how their technology is working to change facilities management. Runwise completed a $55 million series B financing round that it will use to support innovation, expand its team and enter into new core markets, the company announced June 9. The company's smart operating system for buildings is installed in more than 10,000 buildings across the U.S., and it has over 1,000 customers, including real estate owner-operators like Related, MTA, Port Authority, National Grid and Douglas Elliman. The firm's vertically integrated platform combines proprietary hardware, wireless connectivity and cloud-based software to automate and optimize building operations, featuring rapid deployment and a typical payback period under five months, Runwise said. "More than 150 of our buildings have installed Runwise, and in most buildings we have seen up to 30% in energy savings, while making the buildings more comfortable, and easier to manage,' John Skipper, director of energy management at First Service Residential, said in a statement. Since its seed funding round in 2020, Runwise says in its release that it has 'grown over 30X and is on track to nearly double again this year, driven by demand for solutions that deliver tangible ROI, operational simplicity, and environmental impact.' The newest financing round was also twice oversubscribed, 'underscoring investor confidence in Runwise's category-defining approach to making buildings smarter, more efficient, and cost-effective,' it said in the release. Cove, a commercial property management software that aims to unify tenant experience and building operations to connect the entire property ecosystem, announced an investment from Lead Edge Capital in June. The capital, which follows previous funding by Nuveen Real Estate in 2024 and Blackstone Innovations Investments in 2022, comes at a time of major transformation in the commercial real estate industry marked by shifting tenant expectations and rising operational costs, Cove said in a June 2 release. The company says its platform simplifies operations for stakeholders — including property managers, owners and engineers — by consolidating communication, task management and insights into a single interface. This eliminates the need for multiple disconnected tools and supports a range of property types, including office buildings, life science campuses, retail centers, industrial facilities and medical offices, Cove said. MRI Software introduced new AI-enhanced finance and accounting capabilities that will ensure its clients 'remain at the forefront of PropTech innovation,' the company said in a June 2 release. These new capabilities, made possible through the firm's MRI Agora platform, include an agentic AI-based workflow that is expected to shorten the time spent on month-end close processes while ensuring that finance and accounting teams can maintain human oversight and control, MRI Software said. An AI chatbot, Ask Agora, will help users to interact with their real estate data in natural language. The tool features an in-page AI assistant that can provide contextual insights, recommendations and guidance that can boost productivity and drive decision-making, per the release. For example, an operator could use Page Assistance to understand a tenant's outstanding debts and then prompt it to create and send a communication reminding the tenant to pay, MRI Software says. Recommended Reading Vendors streamline integrations as operators seek unified systems: Realcomm IBcon
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
King Soopers workers in Colorado plan two-week strike starting Thursday
Workers and community members form a picket line outside a Denver King Soopers, after United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 began a strike over stalled labor negotiations on Jan. 12, 2021. (Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline) About 10,000 King Soopers workers from 77 stores in Colorado plan to go on strike for two weeks starting Thursday, after 96% of union members across the state voted to approve the action. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 workers have been in contract negotiations with King Soopers, which is owned by grocery giant Kroger, since October. The contract union members have been working under expired at the end of January. Kroger also operates City Market stores in Colorado. The strike comes after the union filed several Unfair Labor Practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board related to issues with negotiations. The complaints allege King Soopers illegally interrogated union members about bargaining, refused to provide data related to pricing and staffing the union needed to consider proposals in negotiations, and threatened union members with discipline for wearing union gear, among other violations. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'These are serious charges against Kroger-owned King Soopers. They have, and continue to, break the law and are trying to force us to accept a new contract that takes us backward,' Connor Hall, a Boulder King Soopers deli worker who is on the union bargaining team, said in a statement. 'That's not going to happen. Meanwhile we have real problems with low staffing, and low wages that make the jobs so bad that many of us can't even afford to shop where we work.' UFCW Local 7 negotiators want higher staffing levels and wages to meet the cost of living in Colorado. The union said Kroger proposed cuts to health care benefits, as well as the pension program and retiree health care benefits to pay for 'meager wage increases for a few workers.' The union represents about 12,000 Kroger employees in Colorado and Wyoming. Representatives for Kroger did not respond to a Newsline request for comment. More than 8,000 Colorado King Soopers workers went on strike for just over a week in 2022 during negotiations on the three-year contract that expired at the end of January. A King Soopers worker filed a class action lawsuit in November alleging Kroger and Albertsons, which operates Safeway stores in Colorado, illegally colluded by entering into a 'no-poach' agreement during the strike. The previous contract had a 'no strike clause,' but after it expired, the union initiated strike-authorization votes around the state. Workers plan to strike at unionized King Soopers stores in Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, as well as in Boulder and Louisville, after voting to authorize a strike last week. Workers in Colorado Springs and Pueblo voted over the weekend to authorize a strike, so those stores are not included in the strike starting Thursday, but could be included in potential expansions. 'This strike is about holding one of the largest corporations in America accountable when they break the law and cause harm to workers and our customers,' UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova said in a statement. 'We are holding this strike for a two-week period to allow everyone to understand our concerns, and give the employer time to right their wrong.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
