Local smart-living management company looks to expand overseas

Singapore

IMAGINE you have left the office on a hot day, and can turn on the air conditioner to cool down your home by simply sending a WhatsApp message from your cellphone.

Or being able to turn on the water heater for your morning shower without even getting out of bed.

The future has been pulled into the present by Habitap, a smart-living management system with a consumer-facing app that works all your smart home appliances on a single platform.

This is a pain point that has long been overlooked. Smart-home devices often come with their respective apps, making it a headache for developers to integrate all the smart-home features into one coherent system, said Franklin Tang, founder and chief executive of Habitap.

Habitap's app integrates all the smart controls, community management and lifestyle offerings on a single platform. "We make things convenient. People don't want to have to deal with all that tech," said Mr Tang.

In three years of operations, the Singapore firm has put 12 residential projects into its portfolio, among them Park Place Residences in Paya Lebar Quarter and Corals at Keppel Bay. These projects comprise about 8,000 homes, representing a little over 40 per cent of the market for new smart homes.

Residential projects aside, the company is also behind the smart-living management of some commercial developments in Singapore. It is now managing about 10 million square feet of net lettable area.

The company's My Sphere app connects businesses, residents and visitors in mixed-use developments Marina One and DUO. Office workers use the app to access their buildings by tapping their phones to get past turnstiles and to control lighting and air-conditioning; they can also invite visitors to their offices by giving them a unique access code, doing away with manual registration with the concierge in the reception area.

Habitap, which now counts more than 90,000 users of its app in Singapore, is gearing up to enter overseas markets.

First up is Malaysia, where it is expecting to pick up 10,000 more app users to its pool. The company will set up an office there by year's end.

Vietnam is also within sight for the company. It has already has completed projects there, such as one for Kloud Vietnam, a serviced co-working space by Keppel Land. An office will be set up in the country next year.

Mr Tang said: "In Vietnam, there has been a very buoyant real estate market for several years now, so there will definitely be homes there to fit out.

"But I think the key driver would be that the people there are savvy with their phones. Remember, we are a smart-living platform that manifests itself primarily in a mobile app."

Habitap also expects to open an office in Indonesia by 2021. It is in talks with developers there and may have projects there next year.

The company's revenue has been growing by at least 50 per cent every year in the last three years, and profits began coming in last year.

It has about S$11 million in projects in the pipeline, lasting till 2021.

But even as the firm sets its sights overseas, it is working at growing its market share at home, and aiming to do this by reimagining a typical user's journey from home to retail outlets to work.

Take, for instance, a worker making her commute to work. As she approaches the office, the app prompts her with the latest breakfast offerings if she has opted to receive them.

Mr Tang said: "If you order coffee every day, it will ask whether you want to order your coffee the moment you are nearby.

"You may order and pay for the coffee on the app and pick it up from the store without having to whip out any form of credit card - nothing.

"So you have seamless access all the way - you pick up your coffee, use your app to tap in at the turnstile in your office building, go to your desk and start work!"