Meet the new giants of workplace tech

Two big real estate tech takeovers inside 24 hours have drawn fresh attention to the value of tenant experience platforms as workforces around the world begin their tentative return to the office. US-based tech firm HqO’s acquisition of its European counterpart Office App to create a new $500m (£300m) tech giant is a game-changer for the market. And the same day HqO announced the deal it was revealed that VTS has agreed to buy workplace experience platform Lane in a transaction valued at $200m. The fate of software platforms set up to facilitate and enhance the use of workspaces could have gone one of two ways after the great office exodus of 2020. They could have been dismissed as redundant in a world where offices were abandoned, or hailed as the key to solving myriad return-to-work problems and complexities faced by landlords and occupiers. Based on this week’s rush of activity and the volume of capital being pumped into these platforms, it looks likely that the latter view prevailed. “The pandemic forced everyone to take a step back and really look at how we quantify the ROI of our workplaces,” said HqO chief executive and co-founder Chase Garbarino (pictured, above left). “There was a realisation around the value of human capital and occupiers appreciating the need to create very engaging, flexible places for people to work.” This, he added, is where the power of property and tenant experience platforms lies. Facilitating the creation of experiential space that will attract the workforce to offices – or rather back to offices – is its modus operandi. By joining forces with Office App, which focuses on the property engagement side of the equation across 24 countries, HqO has balanced the tenant experience platform it already offers across 300 buildings in eight countries. It is this combination of the property and the tenant platforms within one company that harnesses so much firepower. “We need to be a bridge between the landlord and the corporate occupier,” said Garbarino. “We can now be hyper-focused on the concept of work being more flexible and the major problem we are trying to solve is making sure people are happy and successful in their place of work and, ultimately, that they want to be there.” Thijs van der Burgt, co-founder and chief executive at Office App (pictured, above right), said that as the post-pandemic return to work has thrown up thorny issues for the offices sector to navigate, experience platforms have become part of the solution. Approaching the issue globally will be the most efficient way to tackle the problem, he added. “The impact of the acquisition on a global scale is important,” said van der Burgt. “We will be able to offer an Office App product across the world. HqO is very strong on the landlord side, whereas we provide solutions within the workplace on the corporate side. Our technologies can be easily integrated and the more centralised we make the solution we can offer, the more value we can create for our users.” Far from being a casualty of the global departure from offices, this week’s two large acquisitions highlight just how valuable these tech solutions can be in bringing workspaces and urban hubs back to life. The question remains as to how easy it will be for smaller players to thrive following the creation of at least one experience platform giant. Some will argue the market is big enough to support several key players. But with such weighty deals dominating the headlines and expectations of more consolidation to come in 2022, the room for competition could shrink as the market leaders continue to grow. A problem for some but certainly not for those leading the charge. As Garbarino put it: “Any time you can combine the number one player in north America with the number one player in Europe is a good thing.”   To send feedback, e-mail emily.wright@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmilyW_9 or @EGPropertyNews