An Ottawa company whose technology that tracks how office space is used became a hot item during the pandemic is now in foreign hands.
Relogix, which makes sensors that measure how often spaces such as desks, boardrooms and communal areas are occupied, has been acquired by HubStar, a privately held enterprise headquartered in London and Marlborough, Mass., the companies announced Tuesday.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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HubStar specializes in software that uses artificial intelligence to analyze where and when office space is used and how many people are likely to occupy rooms at any given time. It said the acquisition of Relogix will make the combined company the “clear leader” in AI-powered workplace utilization intelligence.
“By providing customers and partners with a new way to optimize workplace value, our latest acquisition represents an inflection point in the industry that will fundamentally change market dynamics,” HubStar executive chairman Steve Vatidis said in a statement.
“This transaction will strengthen HubStar’s position at the nexus of developing AI-powered workplace trends. It will expand our reach and drive innovation for existing HubStar and Relogix customers, as well as the vast number of organizations struggling to navigate the complexity inherent in hybrid work.”
The deal marks the end of the road as an independent company for Relogix. Founded in 2010, the Kanata-based firm was gaining momentum even before the COVID-19 crisis made tenants reassess their office footprints, raising nearly $7 million in venture capital as trends such as the rise of co-working space and a shift to remote work gained traction.
When office towers around the world hollowed out early in the pandemic, Relogix saw demand for its palm-sized, battery-operated sensors soar as companies struggled to navigate the new world of hybrid work.
The company’s revenues grew 50 per cent a year from 2020 to 2023. Relogix, which typically targets enterprise customers with more than 2,000 employees and real estate footprints of at least a million square feet, now boasts a client base that includes Bank of America, Motorola and Starbucks.
Last year, the 24-person firm began broadening its offerings, introducing a new AI-powered platform that analyzes office occupancy patterns over months or years using data collected from the company’s sensors.
“IoT and sensor technology have rapidly matured through COVID,” Relogix CEO Andrew Millar told Techopia last summer. “It’s gone from a nice-to-have to a need-to-have.”
In the same interview, Millar said Relogix, which raised additional capital during the pandemic, was on the verge of becoming cash-flow positive.
“The last three years have been a wild ride, that’s for sure,” he said. “If we can come out the other side and everything comes back in a year, we’ll be stronger for it.”
