Building performance innovator Tether has closed a $1,5m funding round through Snowball Effect to expand to Australia, the UK and Europe, as it rapidly
approaches the deployment of its 10,000th sensor in buildings throughout New Zealand. Trusted by brands including
Westpac, Douglas Pharmaceuticals, BRANZ and Kainga Ora to provide real-time monitoring of their built assets, Tether
believes in the power of data to reduce the negative impact buildings have on our health, our pockets and our planet and
has its sights set on extending how customers use building data to cut cost and carbon while improving the future of
work
In a world where energy supplies are unpredictable, costs are climbing, and regulations are becoming more stringent,
cutting cost and carbon from buildings and ensuring they provide a healthy place to work has become a key focus for
savvy facilities managers.Brandon Van Blerk, Founder and CEO of Tether
Image/Supplied
“To date, creating a unified view of a building’s performance has involved multiple different technologies including
occupancy sensing, air and water quality monitoring and smart metres for electrical consumption; with none of these
technologies integrating into a cohesive and interconnected platform,” comments Brandon Van Blerk, Founder and CEO of
Tether. He adds “Without this understanding, it’s simply impossible to gauge where you’re at or to aim for improvement.”
Founded in 2017, Tether is the first New Zealand innovator (and amongst only a handful globally) to offer facilities
managers all of this functionality in a single platform. Its locally manufactured sensors are as simple as a smoke alarm
to install and provide instant, accurate insights that include performance benchmarks, predictive maintenance reports
and suggested actions that could help optimise the use of a building’s heating, cooling and lighting systems to reduce
cost. Tether also helps ensure that any upgrades to a building will achieve their intended cost and carbon reduction and
looks out for occupancy health by proactively flagging air and indoor environmental quality hazards.
How Tether works
Tether manufactures a series of sensing devices that don’t need wifi connection and are self-powered through energy-harvesting. These devices act as mini radio
broadcast stations to communicate in real-time to a cloud based analytics platform.
“Unlike solutions that monitor a single source of data, Tether has been designed to integrate and analyse multiple
datasets to provide insights that acts as a ‘facilities team coach’. This takes the guesswork out of optimising a
building’s systems so that what a team envisioned for its performance is easier to achieve,” says Brandon.
Set to disrupt the future of work
Having cornered what the company describes as the lion’s share of large building monitoring services in New Zealand and
with early customers in Spain, Tether has also announced its expansion to Australia, the UK and the rest of Europe next
month through a partnership with Ricoh and their workplace experience platform, RICOH Spaces, which companies use to
digitise everything from space booking to visitor management and wayfinding in order to understand space utilisation.
Tether’s integration into the platform will provide users with cutting-edge functionality that will help enhance
building occupant experience. “We believe the future of work will be driven by data. Not only will people want to book
meeting rooms online; but they’ll also want to know that the air quality in those rooms is sufficient for being as
productive as possible. Team leaders won’t only want to know how many people come into work each day, but also which
areas of the office aren’t being utilised efficiently or are over-crowded. Together, Tether and Ricoh will provide an
interactive building management system that is as engaging as it is effective,” comments Brandon.
The partnership enhances Tether's capability to sell its products and services across the EMEA and APAC regions through
the Ricoh channel by adding over a dozen offices to its global sales team.
Change is up to all of us
The impact our built environment has on the planet is gaining increasing attention in the media, with regulation closing
in on how corporates report their impact. Brandon adds that Tether can also predict how well a building will fare when
it comes to NABERS - an independent tool for rating the energy efficiency of office buildings. The tool also simplifies
‘Scope 2 & 3’ emissions reporting by providing real-time data on energy consumption that, when combined with emissions factors and
a building’s location, makes it easier to report on a building’s cost and carbon impact.
“Our funding round and expansion into new markets signify more than just growth — they represent our commitment to
driving a more sustainable, data-driven future of work. By leveraging real-time data, Tether empowers organisations to
significantly reduce their carbon footprint and enhance workplace health. We’re pioneering a future where buildings not
only meet but exceed their performance goals,” concludes Brandon.