Another issue of Smart Building Insight is here, with a two (shorter) special analyses and all the key acquisitions, partnerships, and public sector news.
This issue covers:
A look back at Brightly, after Siemens rebranded the firm last month.
Revisiting our 2026 outlook - which predictions did we get right and wrong?
A number of major acquisitions and partnerships
A wrap up of public sector firms, including a notable reference to JCI’s acquisition price of Nantum.
For anyone attending SBX in Seattle in November, Joe will be delivering a keynote speech on November 10. We hope to see you there.
We hope you enjoy this update; reach out if anything piques your interest.
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JLL reported earnings this week and shed some light on the same analyses we covered in our special two-part analysis earlier in the year (Part 1 and Part 2).
First, JLL updated the current value of its proptech venture portfolio (Spark) to $350M; it’s hovered around this value since early 2025. No updates on the total funding deployed, though our last benchmark on that metric is about $450M.
Second. JLL no longer reports its “Software” unit as a separate reporting entity, but does provide some top-line revenue, which was $58M in Q2 (up from $56M in Q2 2025). This business remains somewhat flat, but JLL’s CEO noted after an analyst question on the earnings call this past week:
Q: Can you talk a little bit about the pace of adoption for your software and tech solutions and the outlook for these initiatives to accelerate profitability this year?
A: (JLL’s CEO) Well, as you know, we moved our software and technology business into our overall rents P&L. We promised to the Street that this will be now profitable in 2027. It was profitable in the fourth quarter of 2026, and we are – after the two quarters, we are well ahead of our own plan. So, the move has turned out to be absolutely the right move. A lot of friction points which we had before have disappeared. And so, from a profitability point of view, it’s going really, really well. And we are also expecting a bit more revenue growth in that whole sector coming the second half of the year.
Aamidor Consulting lens: JLL appears to continue to deprioritize its Spark portfolio and the software business. While committing to a profitable software business in 2027, and noting that this goal is on track, the 10-Qs no longer provide the numbers. That said, the firm is shifting it focus to its AI strategy, and while not sharing many details or metrics, JLL’s CFO noted:
“We feel very good about the investments we’re making around data and AI specifically and the support to the momentum that, that is providing.”
JLL remains an interesting firm to track given the visibility its provided around its proptech investments and its software business.
Paid newsletter subscribers have access to all of the relevant deals of the past month, available below.
Paid subscribers get the full digest: every relevant acquisition, funding round, partnership, product launch, and market signal.
In this issue, the complete, un-redacted view of market developments in the ecosystem includes:
M+A/Consolidation: 12 acquisitions in this issue, including Schneider, ABB, Lennox, Procore, Singu and Honeywell.
Partnership Announcements: 2 relevant announcements, including VergeSense and Copeland.
Public firm news: Announcements from 6 industry incumbents covered, including Siemens, JCI, WSP, Acuity and Honeywell.
Total Ecosystem Moves Tracked This Issue: 20 signals
Market activity is only useful if it improves a decision. Need this analysis applied to your market, product roadmap, M&A pipeline, partner strategy, or investment thesis?
Aamidor Consulting helps smart building and Building OpTech companies, investors, and incumbents pressure-test go to market strategy, de-risk investments and acquisitions, and validate product investments.
We’r sharing two shorter analyses in this issue:
Siemens rebranded Brightly to Siemens Asset Management; we revisit the firm’s offerings and history.
A peek back at our 2026 predictions - what we missed and what we got right (so far)
Let’s start with Brightly / Siemens Asset Management
The Catalyst: Siemens rebranded Brightly, its 2022 acquisition, to Siemens Asset Management, but kept the product largely unchanged. .
The Market Impact: This continues a long line of larger industry incumbents acquiring asset and facility management software businesses; which typically are larger and more traditional SaaS models than other smart buildings innovators.
The Premium Verdict: Siemens and Brightly have both been fairly acquisitive in recent years, and while this rebrand doesn’t change much on the ground, it is a sign of Siemens’ strategic intent to invest in asset management (including potential future M+A).
The Brightly acquisition happened around the same time that Trane acquired Nuvolo and JCI acquired FM:Systems. Later, Schneider took a 90 percent stake in Planon and more recently, Autodesk acquired MaintainX. And, there’s also Rockwell Automation buying Fiix. But, it’s rare for these firms to rebrand the software offerings - the closest is Rockwell moving to a “Fiix by Rockwell” model.
But, the story of Brightly is one of nearly a dozen acquisitions and growth geographically and across use cases, as illustrated in our simple market map:
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