Sprint funding accelerates VAELLA’s journey from an innovation at KONE to an international growth company

The idea for VAELLA originated in an innovation project at KONE, where the team was building a digital twin for metro and railway stations: a real time view of how people move through busy spaces. The aim was to help station operators understand what was happening early enough to take action. The team soon realised that a real time view of people flows, powered by vision sensors and AI, could benefit the operation and management of many different types of spaces and buildings.

“Buildings and public spaces are often managed based on square metres, without a real understanding of how the space is actually being used. We give buildings eyes and a brain: we see what is happening and analyse the data with AI,” says Fabien Fédy, CEO and co founder of VAELLA.

Visibility into how spaces are actually used can help improve safety, reduce costs and create a smoother experience for customers.

There are many potential use cases, including metro stations, airports, cruise ships and shopping centres. In a shopping centre, people flows can even affect the rent of commercial premises. What these environments have in common is that large numbers of people move through them and the smooth flow of people is critical.

“When you have a new, disruptive business with huge international potential, it needs a dedicated team focused on product development, sales, marketing and operations. The spinout model and KONE’s strategic seed funding give us the freedom to operate independently and move fast enough,” says Ulla Tikkanen, Chief Commercial Officer and co founder of VAELLA.

The biggest change in startup life is the speed. When the whole team is focused on one product, decisions can be made and tested quickly.

“As a startup, we can experiment, learn and change direction quickly. We can rebuild the product as we learn from customers. A small team with a lot of drive can achieve a great deal,” Tikkanen says.

Small teams are effective when they share a clear vision and understand what needs to be done. AI is accelerating the pace even further.

“With AI, a team of ten can achieve what previously required a team of one hundred,” Fédy says.

VAELLA’s business model is based on installing hardware at the customer’s premises, while the customer pays for a software licence. However, the value can only be delivered when the right hardware has been installed correctly. Installation is therefore a complex and critical part of the solution.

“We need to think about the whole package from end to end: easy to order, easy to install and easy to get value from,” Tikkanen says.

With Business Finland’s Sprint funding, VAELLA is developing an easy to install hardware package and testing it with customers. The goal is to make the solution simple enough for customers to install themselves, without the need for an engineer. At the same time, the company is identifying which components work best and how the software can be deployed as efficiently as possible.

Easier installation can accelerate sales, save time and costs, and help customers see the benefits of the solution faster.

Before submitting its Sprint application, the VAELLA team had several discussions with a Business Finland expert.

“I appreciate that we were challenged to think carefully about what we are doing and how we use the funding. Together, we considered how Sprint funding could be used in a way that would allow us to take a bolder approach from the start,” Tikkanen says.

Business Finland’s expert advice helped the team set ambitious targets. The metrics emphasised a strong focus on exports and the number of installations, with the installation target raised during the discussions.

For Fabien Fédy, discussions with customers have been the greatest source of inspiration.

“Buildings already generate a lot of data, and people flows are also measured separately. We bring these together using AI, which is something many others are not yet doing. It feels like we are moving at exactly the right time, perhaps even slightly ahead of the curve. It is great to see how excited many customers are about what we are doing.”

VAELLA’s goal is to scale first through one or two of the most promising segments. The company is currently in discussions with operators around the world in areas such as metro stations, airports, cruise ships and shopping centres to identify which segments are ready to invest in the solution first.

Fabien Fédy and Ulla Tikkanen share four lessons for large companies and teams considering a spinout:

1. Create a clear spinout model. Convincing the management of a large company requires a clear strategy and a well thought out model for why the spinout should be created and how it will work.
2. Demonstrate market innovation, not just technology. Great technology alone is not enough. The best way to convince both the parent company and investors is to demonstrate customer willingness to pay and commitment at an early stage.
3. Build a diverse team. Commercialising an innovation requires very different capabilities from developing the technology itself. The team needs a broad range of expertise across product development, sales, marketing and operations.
4. Make use of the parent company’s networks. Even when a startup becomes an independent company, the parent company’s networks and reputation can provide invaluable credibility and open doors to the first customers.