Degree Analytics has secured $5 million in venture capital to develop and expand its higher education facilities optimization platform, which aims to help colleges and universities harness real-time data insights to drive efficiency and cut costs, the company announced Jan. 23.
As institutions face increasing pressure to optimize resources, data-informed insights have become essential for strategic decision-making, Degree Analytics says. The company’s platform equips administrators to make “people-centered decisions that enhance campus operations and experiences,” including by finding underused spaces and enabling smarter energy management, it said.
The company processes billions of data points from multiple campus systems each week, it says. The system can help campuses identify underused spaces, analyze foot traffic patterns, adjust staffing levels according to peak hours, adjust HVAC levels based on usage data for improved comfort and more . Its more than 50 institutional clients include the University of Central Florida, University of Kentucky, University of Wisconsin, Colorado Mesa University and Alabama A&M University, per the company’s website.
“In a fiscal environment where new construction and capital investments are challenging, as well as when aligning with a business mentality focused on returns on investment, it is critical to understand actual utilization patterns reinforced by data,” Jon Bates, assistant vice president of real estate and space administration at the University of Central Florida, said in the press release.
Using Degree Analytics, UCF was able to gather data to validate the low use of its Global Building, which was the campus hub for international students and contained more than 40 offices and 20 classrooms. The university now plans to repurpose the building to house research programs, according to a case study UCF and the company published.
As a result of the study, the university is expected to save $104 million on construction and $1.3 million in annual operating costs a new building would have incurred, the case study says.
LiveOak Ventures led the funding round.
