On August 21, 2025, at the Global PropTech Founders Forge Virtual Bi-Weekly, Garima Bharadwaj, Co-Founder and CTO of Enlite, offered an unfiltered look into what it takes to pioneer in one of the toughest corners of PropTech: building management systems. Known for creating Know Your Building®, the world’s first cloud-native, wireless BMS, Bharadwaj has emerged as both a visionary technologist and a thoughtful leader guiding an industry in flux.
Bharadwaj’s mission has always been clear—empowering the built environment with intelligence, autonomy, and sustainability. At Enlite, she pairs patent-pending wireless hardware with a powerful machine learning platform, enabling buildings to self-optimize for energy, performance, and occupant comfort.
“Our vision is simple but radical,” she explained. “Sustainability and affordability need to go hand in hand. We’re not just making buildings smarter—we’re making them accessible, adaptable, and truly future-ready.”
Enlite’s journey was anything but straightforward. Over four years, Bharadwaj and her team iterated on their hardware 27 times before releasing a stable product. Hardware, she emphasized, is unforgiving—every mistake has a cost. Choosing Wi-Fi as the foundation, despite skepticism, ultimately unlocked scalability and simplicity.
Transitioning building systems from rigid, desktop-bound software into a cloud-native architecture allowed Enlite to host thousands of algorithms, optimizing energy and operations dynamically—something previously unimaginable in traditional BMS.
Breaking into an industry dominated by decades-old incumbents demanded both confidence and technical rigor. Enlite deployed “lighthouse installations” to demonstrate real-world results, engaging early with partners like Qualcomm and Google for validation.
Positioning themselves as “the fifth major player in a four-decade-old industry,” Bharadwaj recalls how meticulous technical mastery became their differentiator. That diligence won the trust of global names such as Fairmont, Sony, Blackstone, Prestige, Qualcomm, and Embassy.
Unlike many startups that rush into fundraising, Enlite chose a different path. For nearly seven years, the company bootstrapped—refining technology, validating product-market fit, and building client trust.
“When you raise prematurely, you risk aligning with the wrong expectations,” Bharadwaj reflected. By the time Enlite raised $6 million, it was with investors like Avana Capital and Clayon Capital, who deeply understood the nuances of PropTech. Her advice to founders: seek quality over quantity in investor relationships.
Bharadwaj’s own leadership has transformed alongside Enlite’s growth. What began as hands-on micromanagement evolved into process-driven leadership and delegation. Today, she balances immediate firefights with long-term vision.
Her personal philosophy? Neutrality. Instead of chasing highs or fearing lows, she grounds herself—and her team—through steadiness and hobbies outside of work. “Questions like ‘why’ guide every decision,” she said. “It’s about thinking beyond the next battle and preparing for the long war.”
Beyond Enlite, Bharadwaj champions collaboration within the PropTech ecosystem. She highlighted the role of Global PropTech Founders Forge, which convenes over 600 leaders to share insights, connect with investors, and raise the bar for the industry. For her, such platforms are vital for elevating collective excellence.
Looking forward, Enlite is doubling down on R&D and scaling into the Middle East and new sectors like data centers and infrastructure. But the heart of its mission remains the same: advancing the decarbonization of the built environment through practical, intelligent, and human-centered technology.
In an industry where buzzwords often overshadow execution, Garima Bharadwaj offers something rare: clarity. She is not only building a company—she is shaping the logic for how buildings of the future will live, breathe, and sustain themselves.
By Proptechbuzz
By Ravi Kumar