Deutsche Telekom smart-buildings partner snapped up

Deutsche Telekom has exited Axonize, an Internet of Things technology partner, as part of a takeover of the business by facilities management player Planon Software.

Netherlands-based Planon said the deal will allow it to meld Axonize’s IoT platform into its broader “building digitisation” portfolio, focused on “asset monitoring, analysing end-user needs, establishing occupational patterns, and enhancing the ecological footprint of assets and buildings”. It added that the purchase will play into Planon’s “joint ambitions” with energy management systems group Schneider Electric, which took a “strategic” 25%-stake in the vendor in late-2020.

Janiv Ratson, Chief Executive of Axonize, described the deal as the “next step in our journey” while highlighting belief in “exponential” growth opportunities around “digital transformation in smart enterprises”.

Following the deal, Planon said it “plans to keep all of Axonize’s employees and offices on board”, and expects to have completed integration of the Israel-based vendor’s technology by the end of 2021. Neither business revealed the transaction’s value.

Axonize’s platform is said to enable “simple and fast”, out-of-the-box connection of high volumes of IoT devices, helping clients scale up projects more quickly. The tech has been used by Deutsche Telekom in its own go-to-market play in the facilities monitoring space, supporting part of Connected Things Hub, Deutsche Telekom IoT’s Azure-based smart-buildings platform.

The tie-up led to Deutsche Telekom taking a minority (but “strategic”) stake in Axonize in 2017, via its central Telekom Innovation Pool fund (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #82).