Fexa’s Acquisition of Trakref: Advancing Compliance and Sustainability in Facility Management

Accelerating Solutions, Expanding Reach, and Saving Money Through Collaborative Problem Solving

On April 3, 2023, Fexa LLC completed the acquisition of Trakref, bringing together two leading companies in the facilities management space. Here’s the official press release.
 

Why this move was made

This merger was driven by the growing importance of refrigerants in the daily activities of businesses worldwide — and the shared goal of providing comprehensive, sustainable facilities management solutions to clients. The merger combines climate, compliance, and sustainability management with work order tracking, budgeting, and maintenance management. In that way, Trakref and Fexa can provide affordable, cutting-edge technologies and services to help businesses manage their refrigerant usage, comply with regulations, and reduce their carbon footprint.
 

The merger of Trakref and Fexa brings together two companies with a shared vision to address the challenges of compliance, sustainability, and operations.

 
 In the end, consumers — i.e. facilities managers, business owners, ESG advocates, founders, and more — will benefit from greater transparency and a single source of intel around:

• Sustainable facilities management
• Sustainability and safety regulations
• Sustainability efforts
• Carbon emissions
• Energy usage data
• More efficient HVAC system
• … and much more

Fexa is a cloud-based facilities management software designed to help businesses streamline their operations, improve productivity, and reduce costs. It offers a wide range of features, including work order management, asset tracking, preventive maintenance, inventory management, and reporting.

Fexa aims to simplify the facilities management process by providing a user-friendly interface and customizable workflows, allowing businesses to manage their facilities more efficiently. It is a powerful tool for companies of all sizes, from small to large enterprises, and is used across various industries, including healthcare, education, hospitality, and manufacturing.
 

 Together, we will create a differentiated capability that offers comprehensive compliance and sustainability tools, analytics, and support for owners, operators, compliance, and sustainability experts everywhere.

 
 At Trakref, we are passionate about providing innovative software solutions for refrigerant management and compliance. Our commitment to advocacy and activism on reducing refrigerant leak rates drives us to help businesses track, manage, and optimize their refrigerant usage, ensuring adherence to environmental regulations and reducing their carbon footprint. We’ve long been at the forefront of sustainable facilities management and are used by many facilities managers, as is Fexa.

By offering tools and insights for containing refrigerant emissions, Trakref has empowered organizations to improve efficiency, save money, and minimize their environmental impact. As a company dedicated to environmental sustainability, we are proud of our role in promoting responsible refrigerant management practices and actively contributing to a greener future.
 

The role of refrigerants in sustainable facility management

Refrigerants are considered fugitive emissions because they can leak or escape from various sources, such as air conditioning and refrigeration systems, during their use or disposal. In ESG reporting, fugitive refrigerant emissions must be accounted for under Scope 1, which encompasses direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a company’s operations.

These refrigerant emissions are significant, as they contribute to a large portion of a company’s total Scope 1 emissions. In many cases, they can account for more than 50% of all Scope 1, highlighting the critical need for effective refrigerant management in reducing an organization’s environmental impact. By properly managing and minimizing refrigerant leaks, businesses can significantly lower their GHG emissions, align with their ESG goals, and contribute to global efforts to combat climate change.
 

Talk To Us About The New Solution

 
Here’s video of Fexa CEO Kurt Smith announcing the acquisition, with an accompanying written message from him. He speaks to the “refrigerant problem” as well, which greatly impacts a ton of other things, including sustainable facilities management as a whole, energy efficiency, energy usage, energy consumption, and carbon footprint.
 

The tech side of this, i.e. why CMMS is so crucial for the facilities manager of the future

Partnering with Computer Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) has always been important to our clients, and therefore it has been necessary to Trakref.  CMMS are at the heart of data capture for every business. With the growing importance and relevance of ESG reporting, it becomes increasingly practical to work within CMMS systems — and the acquisition of Trakref by Fexa represents a valuable opportunity to more intimately embed or deeply link our solution within a company’s existing infrastructure, streamlining data alignment, reducing keystrokes, and offering a more integrated solution.

This integration also facilitates tight alignment between relevant financial information corresponding to invoices and maintenance requirements, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in both financial and ESG reporting.

This will enable businesses to efficiently access the information they need to achieve their compliance and sustainability objectives while minimizing the complexity of data management and simultaneously optimizing their financial processes.

Integrating Trakref into Fexa’s work order management and computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) will enhance existing offerings, delivering a more comprehensive solution for clients to manage their facilities, assets, and environmental impact all in one place.
 

 
By combining the expertise and resources of both Trakref and Fexa, we will be able to deliver cutting-edge technology and services to assist businesses in managing refrigerant usage, ensuring regulatory compliance, and minimizing their carbon footprint.

It’s in the name of sustainable facility management and, honestly, long-term human health.
 

How this deal and a mutual focus on sustainable practices even happened

It’s common for growth-oriented companies like Trakref to seek out capital to support their expansion and development. We were fortunate enough to connect with Mainsail Partners in our journey to secure such funding. As a growth equity firm with offices in Austin and San Francisco, Mainsail Partners specializes in investing in fast-growing, bootstrapped software companies.

Mainsail Partners made a strategic investment in Fexa last year, recognizing the potential of their CMMS platform to revolutionize the sustainable facility management industry. As part of this investment, they also brought a team of highly-talented individuals who shared their passion for solving problems and improving operational efficiency. The team’s impressive commitment to developing innovative solutions and delivering outstanding customer service has propelled Fexa’s growth and solidified its position as a leading CMMS provider.

Now, their partnership with Trakref brings together two companies with a shared vision and a dedication to advancing compliance and sustainability in facility management. Together, we are confident that we can continue to drive innovation, optimize operations, and deliver exceptional value to our clients.

With the backing of Mainsail Partners, the combined Fexa/Trakref opportunity has become the chance of a lifetime. Together, we can help businesses optimize their sustainable facility management practices, achieve compliance and sustainability objectives more efficiently, and reduce their environmental impact. We are excited about the synergies that will emerge from this partnership and its positive impact on the industry.
 

 

So, why now?

It is essential to understand refrigerants’ increasing importance in three critical business areas:

1. Costs and maintenance
2. Compliance
3. Sustainability targets and reporting, via ESG Scope 1 reporting

As ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) data and financial data are closely linked, ESG factors can significantly impact a company’s financial performance. Accurately measuring and reporting on ESG data provides insight into a company’s environmental and social impact and its governance practices. Investors and stakeholders can better understand a company’s risk profile and long-term sustainability by measuring these factors.

In this context, refrigerant management has emerged as a critical area of focus for businesses looking to optimize their ESG reporting and financial performance. Proper management of refrigerants can help companies reduce their environmental impact, comply with regulations, minimize maintenance costs, and improve operational efficiency.

As the profile of refrigerants continues to rise, it becomes increasingly essential for businesses to access comprehensive solutions that enable them to track, manage, and optimize their usage efficiently. The Fexa acquisition of Trakref offers such a solution, empowering businesses to meet their compliance and sustainability objectives while minimizing complexity and reducing costs.

In addition, regulatory bodies and rating agencies are increasingly incorporating ESG factors into their assessments of companies, making it essential for businesses to disclose accurate and comprehensive ESG data. This data is considered financial data because it is a key component in companies’ valuation and financial performance.
 
Let's Improve Your ESG Reporting
 
Therefore, the parallel value of ESG and financial data is that they provide critical information to investors and stakeholders, enabling them to make informed decisions about companies’ long-term sustainability and financial viability.
 

“ESG is not a niche concern; it’s a mainstream issue that affects all of us.” – Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of England and UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.

 

How to increase the operational performance of compliance and sustainability goals

29 (wow) years ago, I sat in a room with 30 or 40 other people from companies larger than Polar Technology, the refrigerant recycling company I had founded with three other people.  It was sometime in the spring of 1994 when the EPA hosted a discussion on refrigerants.

At the time, Microsoft Teams or Zoom were definitely not an option — so we all traveled to Washington DC and listened to the EPA tell us about the future, such as how rules would guide the market to a perfect version of itself by recycling 50% of the installed gas and, therefore, there would be no drastic market swings in price or availability.

We never got to 50%. We are still around 3%.

The suggestion was that the refrigerant issue would be under control within four years.  Others in that room must have known more than me because I genuinely believed at the time that my career path in refrigerant management and generally thinking about the engineering side of impact on the environment would be short.

All of these 29 years have gone by slowly.  I have built and designed recovery and reclaim equipment, established none (9) reclaim plants in the US and across the world, been on the road for months at a time, working to recover refrigerant, and worked in Russia, China, all over Europe, Canada, Central, and South America and been all over the US.  Tammy (my wife and partner since 2005) and I were pioneers in the carbon space in the mid-2000s, establishing the first refrigerant carbon offsets at the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX).  We did not know it then, but that process eventually led to establishing Trakref.

At Trakref, we have always been committed to the net zero ethos, making it our guiding light and true north. Our goal is to help businesses reduce their environmental impact by effectively managing their refrigerants and minimizing leaks. With the Fexa acquisition, we can provide businesses with a comprehensive and integrated solution that enables them to track, manage, and optimize their refrigerant usage efficiently. By doing so, we can help businesses achieve their compliance and sustainability objectives more efficiently, while reducing their environmental impact. We remain committed to this goal and are excited to continue our journey toward a more sustainable future.

A company merger occurs when two businesses with similar synergies decide that being one is better, and at Trakref, we are proud to be a part of this process with Fexa. Our team of great people has contributed to the success of many companies, and we remain equally committed to this goal.

As the Chief Compliance and Sustainability Officer, I will continue aggressively advocating for a better future and working passionately toward reducing refrigerant emissions. I will maintain the same level of commitment tomorrow as last week, constantly imagining all the refrigerant that can be saved from emissions. We are grateful to our partners at Fexa for recognizing the value of our contribution, and we look forward to working together toward a more sustainable future.