Cleantech startup SensorFlow raises US$2.7m in series A round led by Pierre Lorinet

SINGAPORE-BASED cleantech firm SensorFlow has raised US$2.7 million in series A funding led by private investor Pierre Lorinet, taking its total funds raised to date to US$3.5 million.

Also injecting funds in the latest round are Playfair Capital, Cocoon Capital, Entrepreneur First, 2be.lu Investments, Aurum Land and Insitu Asia Holdings. Cocoon Capital led the startup's initial seed funding round in 2018, with SGInnovate and SparkLabs adding support through the Entrepreneur First accelerator programme.

SensorFlow is an energy management startup that aims to provide Asian hotels with a smart wireless Internet of Things solution to monitor, analyse and automate hotel room environments with the aim of optimising energy efficiency and enhancing guest experience. The company uses wireless sensors to collect real-time data and artificial intelligence to automate decision making. The company said that its solutions have delivered up to 30 per cent in energy savings and up to a 40 per cent reduction in maintenance costs.

Proceeds from the funding round will be used to expand the company globally with an eye on a growing consumer base of hotel chains in Asia and new markets such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines. This will bring the company closer to its goal of 800,000 smart hotel rooms by 2022. The team is in the midst of securing contracts with hotels and property developers in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, and is hoping to enter Sri Lanka, India, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia within the next two years.

"With this investment we are in an even stronger position for market expansion to help more hotels within the region reach their sustainability goals," SensorFlow co-founder and chief executive Saikrishnan Ranganathan said in a statement.

"We look forward to building partnerships, pursuing opportunities with synergistic companies and working with local sustainability schemes across the region to further champion energy efficiency and make smart green hotels a standard practice in the industry."