(Photo: © Vaella)
October 2026
Kone has set up its first spin-off called “Vaella”. Vaella is a Finnish technology company that has developed an AI operator for buildings and other very busy public infrastructure.
Vaella is to operate as an independent company and develop and market technologies based on Kone’s "Station Twin".
Since cities are facing increasing pressure on their critical infrastructure due to rising visitor numbers and dwindling resources, Vaella aims to support building operators and facility managers with an AI-aided "operational brain". The data protection-oriented platform provided real time situation recording, according to Kone. Vaella was founded by CEO Fabien Fédy and COO Ulla Tikkanen.
Basically, it is a digital 3D reconstruction of a location, for example, an underground station. Sensors provide real time data on people’s movements. The system warns of potential risks due to overcrowding and provides information on possible lift and escalator malfunctions. The potential deployment sites for this technology include traffic nodes, airports, stadiums and large business buildings.
Current control centres are often based on isolated data from cameras, sensors, access systems, system monitoring and building infrastructure, Kone explained. "Although more data are available to operators than ever before, what they often lack is a uniform operating scenario that helps teams to understand where pressure is mounting, where malfunctions could expand and what decisions are needed in real time."
Vaella was not designed to be another independent software tool, according to Kone’s press release. It operated more like an expanded, AI-aided company team that cooperated with the existing personnel in every department of the organisation.
The platform combined sensor data, operating systems and predictive intelligence to create a uniform real-time operating view. Unlike many conventional systems, which relied on "invasive, camera-based monitoring", Vaella was "an operating platform oriented towards data protection, which networked the existing infrastructure instead of replacing it," according to Kone.
In addition, the technology indicated ways how energy could be saved at the station and the deployment of safety teams reduced by using real time data, according to the group. Initial pilot projects and validation work had already been carried out in real operating environments, including in Helsinki and Brussels.
Kone had decided to support Vaella as spinoff to give the company "the independence and autonomy to act quickly and simultaneously connect it with Kone’s global know-how in the field of urban mobility and its extensive worldwide customer relationships," the press release of Kone concluded.
More informations: vaella.com
kone.com
Digitalpaper
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