Yopa Founder leads funding round for commercial property startup

Andrew Barclay, a Co-Founer of real estate services provider, Yopa, has led a £2 million funding round for a commercial property startup.

Barclay resigned as a Director of Yopa in May, but his relative Alistair Barclay remains on the board. Both are members of the family that owns the Telegraph.

Andrew Barclay has joined the board of Kitt Technology.

Kitt describes itself as a managed office platform, offering smaller and growing businesses an alternative to shared workplaces.

Tenants can visualize and design their workspace using virtual reality. In partnership with the landlords, Kitt then fits the office out and manages it.

The commercial office market in the UK is worth £19 billion a year, with managed offices representing 5% of the market currently and predicted to grow by 30% annually over the next five years.

Commercial rents have fallen in the last nine years, with many landlords switching to co-working models to maximize their incomes.

Steve Coulson, who co-founded Kitt with Lucy Minton last year, said: “In just a few months we’ve taken on 20 spaces in office buildings in London, and have partnered with dozens of different companies to give them their own unique and fully managed office, designed just for them.

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