US-based electric motor developer Software Motor Company (SMC) has received $31.4m in a series A-2 round featuring JLL Spark, a technology-focused corporate venturing and innovation vehicle for property consulting firm JLL.
The round also included investment firm Meson Capital and undisclosed additional participants. It increased the company’s funding to $48m altogether, it said.
Founded in 2013, SMC has created an advanced electric motor dubbed the Smart Motor System, which utilises cloud software and internet-of-things technology to enable it to be remotely monitored.
The technology is designed to make heaters, ventilators and air conditioners more energy efficient. The series A-2 proceeds will support business growth as SMC looks to target customers such as office managers, industrial plants and commercial real estate.
SMC has not disclosed details of its earlier funding but a regulatory filing in July 2018 revealed it had received $13.8m of a targeted $15m round.
Yishai Lerner, JLL Spark’s co-CEO, said: At JLL Spark we look for novel technology solutions to age-old problems in commercial real estate, which is why we are thrilled to invest in Software Motor Company.
“After two pilots at JLL buildings, SMC was able to immediately demonstrate its ability to lower operating costs with attractive [return-on-investment] timelines. We are thrilled to work together to deploy this technology across the JLL portfolio to achieve energy efficiency savings for JLL and our clients, as well as reduce our global energy footprint.”