Today we’d like to introduce you to Laila Partridge.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
WegoWise is a Boston-based data analytics company focused on improving the sustainability and operational performance of multifamily and commercial real estate. The company began as a research project for company founder and CTO, Barun Singh, while he was an MIT student. He was passionate about conservation and recycling, and wanted to create a visualization of his own utility bills. At the time, New Ecology and Boston Community Capital received a grant to retrofit a number of buildings, and realized they didn’t have a good way to benchmark the utility and water usage in them. They connected with Barun and worked together to build the initial prototypes. The rest was history. WegoWise officially became a company in 2010, grounded by the mission of reducing energy use in buildings.
The company’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) products are now used to benchmark utility and water usage in more than 54,000 buildings, comprising 2.4 million square feet of multifamily housing in the United States. The team has grown from 2 to 50, and the company’s database is the largest collection of multifamily utility data in the world. Access to that large pool of data allows building professionals to track their own energy consumption and compare their utility use with other, similar properties. Through additional features like spike tracking and retrofit measurement & verification, real estate professionals can take charge of their energy consumption, make smarter property management decisions, and save significant time and money.
WegoWise, on a rapid growth trajectory since 2016, is poised for continued success.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The real estate industry has been one of the slowest to embrace the use of technology, so one of our biggest challenges has been one of education.
There have been two challenges in selling to the real estate industry. The first is that the real estate industry is the slowest to embrace technology. The second is that the conservative nature of the industry means that “sustainability” is a dirty word to many real estate owners. In short, our biggest challenge has been one of education. We’ve had to educate about the value of data analytics and how smart energy use can improve cash flow and the overall value of a building.
The solution is to focus on the business value. It is also important to recognize when terminology, like the word Sustainability, are too charged. If the discussion is about the business value of using Data Analytics to reduce Utility Costs, the conversation starts to shift.
The bottom line: data analytics has shown our customers that sustainability is good business, helping WegoWise achieve its’ mission.
WegoWise – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
WegoWise helps the multifamily real estate industry improve the operating performance and value of its properties. Its SaaS platform provides insight into a building’s energy and water efficiency, enabling real estate professionals to achieve immediate and sustained savings, while making smarter capital investment and financing decisions. WegoWise, with the largest database of utility usage data in the world, delivers a comprehensive building analytics and benchmarking solution that tracks over 1 million units across 54,000 buildings, based on data from nearly 700 utilities. To date, the company has helped building owners and managers track and analyze 10.8 million bills, 470 billion gallons of water, 3.2 billion therms of gas, and 43.8 billion kWh of electricity.
WegoWise helps clients act responsibly from a sustainability viewpoint while they save money. It’s the perfect example of corporate social responsibility – doing well by doing the right thing.
What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for? Are there any big changes?
While the company is focused on growth, Wegowise is already the world’s largest multifamily real estate building analytics and utility benchmarking company. We’ve helped building owners and property managers track 10.8 million utility bills for more than 54,000 buildings. This enables them to take charge of their energy consumption, make higher returning capital management decisions, and save significant time and money.
The aggregated impact on the reduction of energy usage and expenditures, and improvements to property value, is extraordinary. With approximately 40% of total U.S. energy consumption occurring in residential and commercial buildings, the impact of WegoWise’s tools can be dramatic. By reducing the resources those buildings consume, WegoWise can have a dramatic impact on its customers’ bottom lines and on global environmental, economic, and social sustainability.
We are focused helping the entire multifamily ecosystem tap into the full power of analytics.
Successful growth of the company requires having the right team in the right places. We recently built out our executive team to ensure we have the right leadership, we promote from within and develop our existing team, and we continue to hire passionate individuals who are inspired by our mission.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wegowise.com
- Phone: 617-367-WEGO (9346)
- Email: sales@wegowise.com
- Twitter: @WegoWise
Image Credit:
WegoWise
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
