AI-Powered Sensors Provide Social Distancing Scores, Maximum Utilization Rates and Smart Cleaning Reports to Help Businesses Get Safely Back to Work
SAN FRANCISCO, MAY 21, 2020 – VergeSense, the leading AI-Powered sensor provider for the workplace, today announced a $9M strategic investment led by Allegion Ventures – a $50M corporate venture fund of Allegion plc. JLL Spark, Metaprop, Y Combinator, Pathbreaker Ventures, and West Ventures also participated in the latest funding round. VergeSense will use the investment to meet increased customer demand during the Coronavirus crisis and scale its analytics software platform.
VergeSense has quickly emerged as a predominant provider in the burgeoning workplace sensor market since launching in 2017. Today it processes 6 million sensor reports a day for nearly 70 customers. This includes 40 FORTUNE 1000 companies, that it provides services to across 20 million sqft, 250 office buildings, and in 15 countries. These customers rely on VergeSense to power agile workplace design, enhance employee experience, optimize real estate portfolio investments, and facilitate smart cleaning. VergeSense has sold nearly 30,000 easy-to-deploy wireless and wired people-counting sensors to drive these initiatives and enable insight into the ways people use space and get work done.
Today, as companies respond to COVID-19, they’re turning to new VergeSense functionalities to solve their most significant problem — getting employees back into the workplace safely. New features include the VergeSense Wellness Dashboard, which provides a Social Distancing Score and daily occupancy reports so that companies can make informed, data-driven adjustments to their return to work plans. Also, VergeSense’s Smart Cleaning Planner offers a real-time floor map of frequently used areas. Demand for VergeSense capabilities is creating a significant growth opportunity. VergeSense is on track to increase sales bookings by 500% quarter over quarter.
“Senior leaders around the world are wrestling with how to comply with social distancing guidelines and reassure their employees that it is safe to return to work. This crisis has accelerated the widespread integration of smart technology into workplaces by 5-10 years. Accurate, real-time people counting tech like ours has become a must-have,” said Dan Ryan, CEO and co-founder of VergeSense. “We’re excited to have Allegion Ventures join our existing investors in this strategic round to help us meet the growing demand for our mission-critical solution.”
“The talented team of entrepreneurs at VergeSense is currently proving just how nimble they can be and how valuable and adaptable their technology is,” said Rob Martens, president of Allegion Ventures. “In the midst of a world crisis, they have quickly positioned themselves to help senior business leaders ensure safer workspaces through social distancing, while at the same time still driving productivity, engagement and cost efficiency. VergeSense is on the leading edge of creating data-driven workspaces when it matters most to the global business community and their employees.”
VergeSense’s software-as-a-service business model means customers can benefit from its new product enhancements without hardware changes. Its open API platform enables seamless integration with popular workspace management solutions, including room and visitor booking software and expanding the opportunity for touchless check-in experiences.
JLL, a global leader in real estate services, has thousands of VergeSense sensors installed in its buildings around the world. “VergeSense delivers better space and occupancy planning for JLL and its clients through sensor and data-driven insights, all of which translates into better employee experiences,” said Reeves Davis, Executive Director at JLL Technologies. “In a post-COVID world, clients are leveraging VergeSense to facilitate the return to work by making sure occupancy levels are safe, ensuring proper cleaning of highly trafficked areas, and giving employees peace of mind.”
“Helping companies ensure a safe return to the workplace was something we never envisioned,” added Ryan. “However, that’s the benefit of our highly adaptable sensor solution. Before the crisis, we were assisting customers with analyzing employee interactions as signs of workplace engagement. Today, that same sensor capability is helping our customers accommodate social distancing. Like the rest of the world, we’re hoping for a return to normalcy as quickly as possible.”
About VergeSense
VergeSense is the leading AI-powered sensor provider for the workplace. Headquartered in San Francisco, VergeSense offers a scalable suite of technologies that enables insight into the ways people use space and get work done. Its deep learning sensors capture data beyond simple observation, while its analytics dashboard translates data into real-world recommendations for workplaces around the world. VergeSense sensors can be installed in minutes and get smarter over time.
About Allegion Ventures
Allegion Ventures is the corporate venture fund of Allegion. It invests in and accelerates the growth of companies with innovative technologies and products that have the potential to make security and access smarter, stronger, faster and less intrusive.
