The inter-tangling of companies can get intricate. A clear example is the recent announcement from CRE giant JLL and HqO, a vendor of a workplace experience platform.
To set the stage, JLL Spark, the company’s venture fund to invest in early-stage companies, started investing in HqO in 2018. JLL then added a “follow-on corporate investment” in December 2021 as part of HqO’s Series-C funding round. JLL also named the company as a “preferred provider.”
By then, JLL was using HqO’s products, including an “app, analytics suite, hybrid work tools, and a flex space management system.” The intent was to provide services to tenants and data and feedback to landlords.
And now comes a swap of sorts. “As part of a newly established global licensing deal, JLL can now directly sell HqO, offering a streamlined solution to a broader customer base,” a release noted. “Additionally, HqO has acquired JLL Jet, a hybrid workplace app, to enrich its market-leading platform.”
JLL had earlier said that JLL Jet, previously called Jill, was an AI-driven personal digital assistant that would “simplify office re-entry and blended working,” “integrate easily with existing workplace systems,” and provide users with an “intelligent mobile experience.”
HqO has made other acquisitions recently. In November 2021, it bought Office App, a “European tenant and employee engagement platform, which expanded HqO’s services into the corporate workspace.”
In June 2022, the company announced the acquisition of Leesman. “The Leesman Index has been transforming how organizations benchmark their workplace experience for more than a decade, helping some of the biggest brands in the world improve their employee experience through their rich dataset and proprietary methodologies,” the release quoted HqO CEO Chase Garbarino as saying.
“HqO previously established an advanced integration partnership with Building Engines, a best-in-class building operations platform for commercial landlords acquired by JLL in November 2021,” said the most recent release.
HqO claims to be used by 57% of the Fortune 100, including JLL, Dell, J.P. Morgan, Jamestown, Grosvenor, and Gecina. The company says that its products are in use “in more than 250 million square feet in 25 countries.”
The new trade-off gives JLL access to products and services it can make money from providing, and it also no longer needs to develop or maintain its own app. By taking on JLL Jet, HqO gives JLL an exit, so the company is now in need of a replacement. All in all, an interesting dance.