Dive Brief:
- Site Technologies clinched a $10 million series A funding round to expand its data collection and AI analysis platform, it announced Sept. 12.
- The company collects high-resolution imagery, graphical information system data points and roof and pavement surface temperature readings while performing property inspections via drones, satellites, manned aircraft and other approaches, according to its website.
- The funding comes as facilities managers increasingly have access to drones and other advanced imaging technologies to map out buildings and collect insights related to properties.
Dive Insight:
Drones are being used for inspection-related tasks in facilities across the country, with key examples including thermal air leak detection, building facade safety and solar array assessments. Research published in Scientific Reports found that the application of artificial intelligence and drone data collection in green buildings has “the potential to provide valuable insights into a building's energy performance” in certain conditions in less time and at a lower cost than other techniques.
Site Technologies says its use of advanced technologies allows it to gather precise and real-time property data to improve the accuracy of facility condition analysis. These data points are used alongside AI-powered data analytics to provide insights into property conditions, infrastructures, budgets and operations, it said in the release.
Dan Duffy, CEO of Site Technologies, told Facilities Dive in an email that the company takes captured images and stitches them together to create a high-resolution map, or orthomosaic. “We run the orthomosaic through our proprietary AI model, which detects the severity of the degradation and determines the condition of the property,” he said.
The company said its approach provides clients remote access to critical data, eliminating the need for lengthy, costly and sometimes hazardous “boots on the ground” inspections. Site Technologies serves clients across 10 countries and all 50 states in industries including commercial, industrial, retail, real estate, construction and infrastructure management, it said.
Prologis’ investment arm, Prologis Ventures, led the series A round along with DivcoWest Ventures and Protagonist. Prologis plans to use Site Technologies’ services at all of its locations across the Americas and in its expansion into Europe, according to the release.
The ability of Site Technologies' platform to “leverage AI and other capture technologies to quickly and accurately analyze critical property characteristics allows property owners to identify potential issues as well as optimize bid management processes more efficiently,” Will O’Donnell, managing director at Prologis Ventures, said in the release.
