As part of a global innovation drive, Grosvenor announces its UK property business (GPUK) has established an Alternative Investment team and allocated £65 million to be deployed into European early-stage companies capable of accelerating the attainment of its ambitious environmental, social and commercial goals alongside wider opportunities including areas such as renewable energy generation. 

As part of this new strategy, GPUK whose assets include a major property portfolio in London’s Mayfair and Belgravia, leading retail and entertainment destination Liverpool ONE and a growing regional office portfolio has made its debut investment into Demand Logic, a technology platform which helps building owners and occupiers reduce energy consumption and cost, improve occupant wellbeing and increase maintenance effectiveness. 

GPUK will primarily invest in businesses that are already (or soon to be) operational in the UK and raising capital at Seed to Series A stages. By leveraging its network, expertise and substantial portfolio, Grosvenor can support product development from a customer’s perspective and accelerate revenue growth.  

Beyond early-stage companies, GPUK will also selectively participate in venture capital funds which offer the opportunity to significantly accelerate market access and learning. 

The market for smart building management is forecast to grow rapidly. With 80% of UK buildings expected to be standing in 2050 already built, addressing the in-use performance of existing assets will be crucial to meeting the country’s net zero goal. 

Demand Logic has so far identified £16m (86k tCO₂e) of energy savings in over 300 buildings across the UK, and now has ambitious plans to expand its award-winning collaboration platform both in the UK and overseas. As an existing supplier to Grosvenor, the software and insights gained has enabled energy savings of up to 30% in buildings, generating significant cost and carbon savings. The investment was made as part of a pre-Series A funding round alongside other investors including Pi Labs. 

Andy Doyle, Innovation Director, Grosvenor Property UK commented: "We are backing innovations that will help us answer changing business, occupier and customer needs in an era of climate change. As an investor in, and client to, high potential young businesses we can accelerate the commercial development of solutions critical to decarbonising the built environment’s impact whilst improving the range and quality of services we offer to our customers.   

“Demand Logic’s intelligent and simple software supports our goals of reducing carbon and cost of managing our buildings. Over our three-year partnership their service levels, speed of deployment and insights as well as depth of analysis have been particularly impressive; and with the results we’ve experienced ourselves, we’re excited by the opportunity to support the business’ long-term growth.”  

Mike Darby CEO, Demand Logic, added:  "Demand Logic allows real estate owners and managers to create productive, comfortable spaces while saving energy by making buildings more efficient through data-driven collaboration. We're on a journey to make all buildings into smart buildings to tackle the existential threat of climate change and reduce the energy bills of building owners and occupiers." 

Globally, Grosvenor invests in early-stage tech companies to help deliver on its purpose of creating lasting environmental, commercial and social benefit. Investee companies include retail tech startup NearSt in the UK and in Asia include Co-living platform Dash Living, Dayta AI a retail in-store analytics firm and drone inspection specialist H3Dynamics.