Aeria, a tenant experience and asset management platform for commercial real estate, has closed $1.8 million in pre-seed funding led by Kalaari Capital and Foundamental along with AC Ventures, AL Trust and several leading angels also participated in the round.
Founded by former co-founder of OxfordCaps, Priyanka Gera accompanied by IIM alum Piyush Kateja, Aeria uses cutting-edge technology and AI to transform the office buildings from a commodity to an experience. With the heightened technology adoption with real estate players and increased GenZ participation in workforce, the workplace has evolved from a commodity to a service and now to an experience. Aeria is the first platform in Asia leading this digital transformative era for commercial real estate. The company will use the capital to expand its presence across Southeast Asia, Middle East and other Asian countries over the next year.
“Commercial real estate in APAC is estimated at 52 billion square foot, expanding at CAGR of 15%. However, most owners currently rely on traditional methods to manage facilities and tenants. We aim to use technology to transform this experience and bring in efficiency to the owner’s operations,” said Priyanka Gera, Founder and CEO at Aeria.
To address this problem of fragmented infrastructure, Aeria offers comprehensive solution well-integrated with multiple technologies to create engaging digital experience in one app to manage operations by digitizing and automating manual tasks. It includes state-of-the-art access and parking management systems, delivery-to-desk services, fully integrated and seamless visitor management solution, end-to-end well automated complaint resolution, last-mile commute addition, F&B integration, move-in services, and community management, among others.
Developers and asset managers can look-into Aeria’s detailed analytics suite to improve financial performance up to 15% as they make data-driven decisions. Their dashboards present sharp insights on various asset risks, demand forecasting, space management, rental optimisation and tenant segmentation. Aeria is uniquely positioned to enable the digital transformation of the billion dollars commercial real estate industry.
“The real estate post-COVID world must evolve, especially the lack of predictability in demand and supply since 2020 in the commercial real estate sector. In an environment of digital disruption and technology, focus on improving tenant and visitor experiences is not an option. It is mission-critical. We believe that commercial real-estate is going to get a massive digital upgrade. We are proud to be backing Priyanka for the second time and believe in her ability to redefine how people engage with offices and shopping malls on a daily basis.” said Sampath P, partner at Kalaari Capital.
Real estate is one of the largest industries in India contributing to about 7.3% of our GDP. However, the sector has traditionally been laggard in adoption and use of technology. Funding to venture-backed proptech companies has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, according to Crunchbase data, with construction tech and property management startups leading the way. VC-backed real estate companies have raised $13.4 billion in 2023, up from the $4.1billion that was raised during the same period last year, and higher than any year in that period in the past decade. This marks a generational shift that is to transform the way real estate is managed, and Aeria wants to be at the forefront of this evolution.
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