kitt, an office outfitter as a service, raises $5m seed round led by barclay ventures

A New Approach to Flexible Workspace for Landlords

Property owners have often observed the success of tech-driven workspaces like WeWork, desiring to attract a similar clientele of innovative companies. A U.K.-based startup is now offering a direct solution for landlords to achieve this.

Kitt Secures $5 Million in Seed Funding

Established in 2018 by Steve Coulson and Lucy Minton, Kitt has recently completed a $5 million (£3.6 million) seed funding round, bringing the company’s total funding to $7.5 million. Barclay Ventures spearheaded this investment.

How Kitt Works: Connecting Landlords and Tenants

Kitt delivers a “fully customizable” workspace solution to tenants through partnerships with landlords. The platform directly connects landlords with prospective tenants and subsequently automates many of the conventional tasks typically handled by property and office managers.

This streamlined approach aims to minimize vacancy periods, ultimately increasing property yield for landlords.

Current Clients and Services

Kitt currently serves companies including Oatly, Nested, and PZ Cussons Beauty, assisting them with their office strategies in the post-COVID era.

Before physical construction, spaces are visualized using a virtual reality (VR) design process. Kitt’s mobile application then provides tenants with access to a variety of on-demand services.

Features and Benefits

These spaces incorporate app-based entry systems, remote reception services, and enhanced security measures. Landlords are able to offer a fully managed service, while tenants can access additional suppliers through the Kitt platform.

Growth and Future Outlook

Founder Lucy Minton stated that the company has experienced a 600% revenue increase since August, with continued growth anticipated as offices adapt to evolving team requirements.

“With flexibility being a primary concern, collaboration, creativity, and innovation will be central to office design in a post-COVID world,” she explained.

A Scalable Platform

Minton further clarified: “We’ve developed a platform capable of managing spaces of any size. We collaborate with landlords to re-present their properties as a service offering.

From an operational perspective, we can remotely deliver space into clients’ offices anywhere, and from a product standpoint, everything is managed through our dedicated space app.”

Investor Perspective

Andreas Wiele, an investor and former CEO of Axel Springer Digital, commented: “By providing a tailored solution for tenants, Kitt enables them to plan for the future and create their ideal office environment.

For landlords, Kitt presents an opportunity to market space in a novel way, attracting tenants who are eager to return to a productive office setting.”