Photo: Erik Hannemann | Text: Grethe Rønningen, s360
Why should there be a separate app for everything at work - the canteen, meeting room booking, and parking? And how can landlords bring everything together in one digital solution? Entrepreneur Ole Aabel pondered these questions back in 2018. It was to be the start of the Izy adventure.
The idea of a technological solution for smart building operations came about over five and a half years ago. Back then, there were no dedicated Facility Service applications and no holistic digital solutions in this space.
In just a few years, Izy's digital platform has become Norway's fastest-growing tool for landlords in FM (Facility Management) and FS (Facility Services).
The platform consists of the Izy Portal - a management tool for landlords and service providers - and the Izy App used by tenants in the building.
Ole Aabel wasn't alone in launching Izy. From the start, he was joined by Tor Rønhovde, CEO of 4service - a company with several thousand employees across the Food and Facilities, Cleaning and Maintenance, and Accommodation divisions.
With a background in facility services, Tor Rønhovde had long experienced the need for better oversight and more efficient operations in areas such as cleaning, canteen management, maintenance, and space rental. At the intersection of service delivery and technology, Ole and Tor saw the opportunity for a company like Izy.
Tor from the "service side" and Ole from the "tech side" became a perfect match in finding smart solutions and useful tools for managing and operating commercial real estate.
"Many people fall in love with technology, but not with what it can actually solve for landlords and service providers - which ultimately leads to satisfied tenants and employees. With Tor, we had professional expertise and hands-on experience in building management from day one. He knew where the pain points were and where smart solutions were needed," says Ole.
Today, Tor sits on Izy's board, while Ole is part of day-to-day operations as CVO - Chief Visionary Officer, a role that suits him well and is essential for a company aiming to reach new markets.
The two entrepreneurs weren't sitting idle. Within a year, they had developed a solution with Izy App for booking resources and services in commercial buildings, including meeting rooms and canteen services. And then the first customers arrived: the Directorate of Health, TV2, and Vinmonopolet.
It didn't take long for landlords to get on board. They wanted an app for managing services in their commercial buildings.
"Some large real estate companies had come a long way with their own technology, but not in Facility Management. One example is Braathen Eiendom, which dropped its own development project and instead joined Izy as a sparring partner early on," says Ole.
Initially, the idea was that all customers would have their own app in the app store. But when the number of apps reached 60, Ole and his colleagues at Izy realized that maintaining them all became impossible. The result was Izy App 2.0 - one application for all users.
"With standardized solutions and good modules, it became easier to further develop and adapt solutions to meet different customer needs. This allowed us to deliver customized, unique solutions for each building at a much lower cost than if the customer were to develop their own app from scratch," says Ole.
Version 2.0 of Izy App was first introduced at 4service, becoming a digital spearhead for the company.
"When we saw how this was developing, why shouldn't Izy be available to everyone? There was no reason to limit ourselves," Ole says. A decision was made at 4service not to make such large investments in Izy anymore, and two years ago Izy was spun off to build its own organization. From two people at the start, there are now 23 employees in the company, many of them developers.
"With a target of 1 million users, we knew we had to scale the technology," Ole says. Izy has just launched version 3.0 of the Izy App.
Ole is an entrepreneur through and through. He's at work pretty much all his waking hours, which is necessary when often working with people across different time zones.
"It's fun, but unfortunately everything doesn't always work out. Then a good dose of stubbornness helps," says Ole. He works to stay ahead, look forward, and think about possible scenarios. And as an avid sailor, there are naturally references from the sea.
"A year and a half ago, we charted our journey and mapped out which reefs we might hit. It was a lot about challenges around technology, funding, and GDPR. Along the way, we hit every single reef, but we never knew when we'd hit them," says Ole.
"We're working on the same thing as when Izy started, but there's more to it than what we've developed so far," says Ole. He believes Izy is one of the companies in Norway with the greatest potential.
"There are already many digital solutions for building operations and management, but none of the solutions on the market are complete. With our solution, you have everything you need - from guest registration to generating canteen reports," the entrepreneur believes.
Significant work is being done on prediction using machine learning and artificial intelligence. Data collected from the digital platform can be used for efficient management and operation of the customer's commercial building. Planning and resource allocation becomes easier and more accurate. This means that canteen service providers in commercial buildings, for example, can use the data to forecast visitor numbers well in advance and make more accurate purchases.
"Prediction will affect the entire building ecosystem and make operations more sustainable and cost-effective. Significant savings can be achieved through improved management, operations, and maintenance."
"Predictions are expected to be 97 percent accurate three to four weeks ahead, but we're focusing on solutions that can predict resource use and operations up to one year ahead," he says. Our daily choices are influenced by various factors: trains are cancelled, road conditions are poor, flu spreads through the office, and so on.
For prediction, several types of data are used, including:
"All of this together creates forecasting with a very high degree of certainty. Operations become more sustainable and convenient for building users," says Ole.
Along the way, Izy has had good support. To secure funding for development, the company has received capital through funds and investments.
"We're now transitioning from being a start-up to becoming a scale-up company that will reach further. Apart from a handful of other Norwegian tech companies, not many have made it this far," he says.
The goal is to become a market leader in Scandinavia in 2024 and then expand to the rest of Europe in 2025. The entrepreneur believes the foothold in Norway and all the lessons learned from the Norwegian market will prove valuable.
"Norway is a perfect place to start and test. Here there are large and small real estate players, and a wide range of users. At the same time, Norway is closely integrated with the EU," says Ole Aabel.
