Runwise Raises $55M To Expand Smart Building Tech

Runwise, the leading smart operating system for buildings, has successfully raised $55 million in Series B funding. The round, led by Menlo Ventures, with contributions from MassMutual Ventures, Nuveen Real Estate, Multiplier Capital, Munich Re Ventures, and other investors, aims to fuel the company’s product innovation, team expansion, and market reach. With this new funding, Runwise has now raised a total of $79 million to date, positioning itself as a transformative player in the intersection of artificial intelligence and the built environment.

Founded with a mission to modernize building infrastructure using cutting-edge software, Runwise is addressing a critical issue in real estate: the inefficiency and outdated nature of building management systems. According to Jeff Carleton, CEO and Co-Founder of Runwise, most buildings in the U.S., whether old or newly built, still rely on outdated technologies dating back to the 1960s. These systems not only waste billions of dollars in energy but also contribute to significant CO₂ emissions and reduce the overall safety and comfort of urban living environments.

To solve this, Runwise has developed a unique platform that integrates proprietary hardware, wireless networking, and cloud-based software, allowing buildings to optimize their energy consumption in real time. Already deployed across more than 10,000 buildings nationwide, the technology has delivered over $100 million in energy savings to its clients, which include industry giants such as Related, Equity Residential, MTA, and National Grid. In many buildings, energy efficiency gains have reached as high as 30%, a substantial improvement that benefits both building operators and the environment.

Lee Hoffman, President and Co-Founder of Runwise, emphasized the paradigm shift the company is spearheading. “Every building needs to be rebuilt with software, not bricks,” Hoffman stated. He pointed out that the platform can be installed in a single day, delivers return on investment in under five months, and is designed to scale effortlessly across entire real estate portfolios.

The Series B round was notably oversubscribed, signaling strong investor confidence in Runwise’s business model and growth potential. As part of the deal, Steve Sloane, Partner at Menlo Ventures, has joined Runwise’s board of directors. In his statement, Sloane underscored the strategic importance of Runwise’s position at the convergence of artificial intelligence and the physical world. “Over the next decade, there will only be two types of companies: those that drive AI innovation and those that enable AI to transform the physical world,” Sloane said. “Runwise bridges that gap, creating smarter, more sustainable spaces at scale.”

The company’s growth has been nothing short of meteoric. Since its seed round, Runwise has achieved 30x growth and expects to nearly double its footprint again in the coming year. This rapid expansion reflects the real estate industry’s increasing demand for scalable, cost-effective energy solutions that also support environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives.

Mike Cook, Chief Growth Officer and Co-Founder, stated that the Series B funding would significantly accelerate Runwise’s mission to become the global standard in smart building operations. “This round gives us the fuel to accelerate that mission and become the global default for the real estate industry,” Cook said. The company’s ambition is to redefine how buildings are operated, shifting the industry’s reliance from physical retrofitting to intelligent, software-based upgrades.

Customer testimonials reinforce the tangible impact of Runwise’s platform. John Skipper, Director of Energy Management at First Service Residential, shared that more than 150 of their buildings have integrated Runwise systems, yielding energy savings of up to 30%. “It’s a win for affordability, operations, and the environment,” Skipper noted, highlighting the platform’s effectiveness in enhancing both operational efficiency and tenant satisfaction.

Runwise’s achievements also align with the broader trend of sustainable infrastructure development. As regulatory pressures and stakeholder expectations around ESG performance intensify, real estate asset managers are increasingly turning to tech-driven solutions like Runwise to align operational performance with environmental goals. The ability to deploy the system quickly and achieve near-term paybacks makes it particularly attractive for portfolio-wide implementation.

As the most capitalized and widely deployed smart building platform in the U.S., Runwise is not only helping buildings save money and reduce emissions, but also setting a new benchmark for how infrastructure should operate in the 21st century. By turning buildings into intelligent systems through AI-driven software, Runwise is proving that the future of infrastructure will be defined not by bricks and mortar, but by data, connectivity, and rapid adaptability.