Stonal, a French data management platform for real estate owners and investors in Europe, has announced a strategic investment of €100 million by Aareon, which provides SaaS solutions for the property industry.
Aareon’s investment in Stonal reflects the growing appetite of the real estate sector for technological solutions that enable it to address the major challenges it faces, applying to both larger and smaller companies. Expanding ESG expectations, increased CapEx for greener properties, stringent building safety regulations, and higher vacancies due to remote work for offices converge in high interest rates.
AI-powered proptech platform
Founded in 2017 by Michel Tolila, the current executive chairman, and Jean-Maurice Oudot, Stonal’s mission is to deliver data quality at scale for asset owners and investors. Its collaborative AI-powered platform extracts information from documents and blueprints, creating an accurate and up-to-date database of buildings open to stakeholders such as property managers, surveyors, and insurers.
Its decision-making modules offer ESG reporting and CapEx planning to increase returns, improve productivity, and preserve value. Since its inception, the company has quickly expanded into residential and commercial real estate.
In early 2024, Stonal launched its proprietary StonalGPT, the first generative AI solution designed for real estate owners and investors, establishing itself as one of the pioneers in this field.
It helps more than 130 clients, REITs, insurers, housing organisations, asset managers, and family offices to manage a combined portfolio of more than 200 million sqm across Europe.
Robin Rivaton, CEO of Stonal said: “The real estate industry, both residential and commercial, is at a crossroads. AI is a massive opportunity to reshape the sector remarkably, but it still requires a significant amount of data on which to train these systems. To reach such a scale, we are accelerating our European expansion thanks to this strategic partnership with Aareon.”
Harry Thomsen, CEO of Aareon said: “Investing in Stonal is a strategic step to strengthen our “Aareon Sustain” product portfolio and amplify our proficiency in AI technology across the Aareon Group. With an expected uptick in the need for robust data management solutions, this collaboration not only reinforces the existing partnership between Stonal and Aareon in France but also equips us to meet our customers’ needs and deliver unrivalled innovation and operational excellence.”