Last Updated on: 22nd November 2023, 04:34 pm
Kitt are about to really shake things up in the world of office leasing, which is set to be a real boon for both tenants and landlords alike.
The managed office platform has just raised an impressive £2 million in seed funding, and appointed the renowned former Fitness First CEO Oren Peleg as their Chairman. The funding round was led by Proptech investor and YOPA co-founder Andrew Barclay who are now also joining the company’s board.
Kitt was founded last year by the noteworthy entrepreneurs Steve Coulson and Lucy Minton, who’ve built a platform that delivers a positive transformation in the office leasing experience for everyone involved.
Kitt – Founders Steve Coulson and Lucy Minton
A platform fit for the 21st century, tenants are able to visualise and design their spaces to their liking using the power of virtual reality. Kit then makes good on their designs with a fully-customised fit-out with ongoing office management, partnering with landlords to deliver it and bundling it all into one, easy fixed-price package.
With the UK commercial office market worth £19 billion a year, and manage officers predicted to increase by 30% over the next 5 years from their current market share of 5%, there’s set to be stellar growth in Kitt’s future.
The leasing market has been undergoing a period of change, with rent levels pushed down by 23% on sub-5,000 square feet units over the last 9 years, and as such companies are switching things up by transitioning to co-working models, which needs landlords to adapt to how things have evolved. Many have found themselves exposed financially, but Kitt’s model helps them compete directly with these providers, getting the higher rent that keeps them in profit, tending to the needs of established businesses.
Another advantage is that tenant’s needs are tended to better, as instead of having to adapt to an office already fitted out, they can design according to their specifications, which means a more tailored product for them which takes stress off the landlord. In addition to tenants designing their office space, they can also enable face ID entry for added security benefits.
All of this brings a host of other benefits for landlords such as reducing void-periods, eliminating rent-free incentives and driving significantly increased returns, with tenants directly contracted to the landlords without any middlemen.
Kitt’s seed investment is set to entice landlords all across London as they continue to improve their technology further. Steve Coulson, Kitt’s CEO and co-founder, recognised the problems currently in the leasing market and is excited about what Kitt can do for businesses:
“Increasing numbers of growing businesses feel that shared-working isn’t for them – either because of the high costs or because they want their own brand on their office, not someone else’s. They also want to design their own fit-out and only pay for the office services they actually need but without the pain-points of traditional leasing. Kitt is able to join up these two different parts of the market very successfully.
In just a few months we’ve taken on 20 spaces in office buildings in London, and have partnered with dozens of different companies to give them their own unique and fully managed office, designed just for them.”
The future looks bright for Kitt and the tenants and landlords on its platform, and by 2020 they are on track to be the largest provider of bespoke managed spaces in London. Plus it doesn’t stop there, they have plans to roll-out in other regional cities too.
It’s a bold new world for businesses to get on board with.
Source: Pressat
