Managed office platform Kitt has raised $8.16m (£6.1m) in Series A funding, taking the total raised by the business to $15.8m (£11.85m).

The round was led by Hoxton Ventures with backing from Octopus Group CEO Simon Rogerson and SquareFoot founder Jonathan Wasserstrum.

Kitt has grown over 420% in the last 18 months in spite of lockdown challenges, with businesses continuing to need physical space to develop their culture and thrive.

Kitt placed customers in over 140,000 square feet of space across London since launching in 2019, working with the likes of Oatly, Mars and PZ Cussons Beauty, creating one of London’s largest network of managed workspace units.

Kitt transforms the entire office leasing journey, having built the infrastructure to streamline the currently fragmented experience of renting workspace. Through their platform, Kitt delivers a bespoke office for any business; from finding and designing their perfect space to handling legal agreements and managing all suppliers in one solution.

Research found that the average business needs to work with over 80 suppliers - such as cleaning services to wifi and utilities - making the process of getting back to the office post-pandemic painful and time consuming, something co-founders Steve Coulson and Lucy Minton experienced first hand before launching the business in 2019.

The investment will be used to accelerate UK expansion and open Kitt’s first international office next year as more businesses return to communal spaces, with building owners and landlords needing to offer unprecedented flexibility to accommodate the needs of firms across the country.

On the raise, CEO and co-founder of Kitt Steve Coulson said: “The aftermath of the pandemic has blown open the doors of our industry and accelerated our mission to put the customer at the heart of commercial real estate. We are delighted to partner with Hoxton to take the business to the next level as we aim to reinvent commercial real estate across the country and then internationally.”

Hussein Kanji, Founder at Hoxton Ventures, added: “The office concept has changed drastically as companies look to strike a balance between HQ and people’s homes. The real estate industry needs to innovate and redefine the role of office space for the future. We congratulate Kitt on its vision, which is at the centre of the largest shift in commercial real estate we've seen in recent years.”