UPDATED 10:00 EDT / DECEMBER 22 2020

IOT

VergeSense raises $12M to help companies create safer and more productive offices

Workplace analytics provider VergeSense Inc. said today it has closed on a $12 million round of funding as it bids to help companies get back to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tola Capital led the Series B round, which brings VergeSense’s total funding to $22.6 million, following previous investments by JLL Spark, Allegion Ventures, MetaProp, Y Combinator, Pathbreaker Ventures and West Ventures.

VergeSense sells a workplace analytics platform that uses a combination of artificial intelligence and battery-powered sensors to help companies understand how their employees interact with and move around in their office spaces. The technology measures both office usage and people count, and highlights in real time which areas of a building are being used the most.

The AI aspect helps the platform recognize occupancy in a building in the same way that a human can, VergeSense Chief Executive Dan Ryan told SiliconANGLE.

“Our proprietary algorithm detects when a space is in use, even if a person isn’t physically present, by recognizing that someone’s belongings are holding the space,” Ryan explained. “So imagine walking into a conference room and noticing an open laptop or a leftover sweater. A human would know that the room is taken. So would VergeSense.”

With companies looking to get people back to work amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, VergeSense’s platform can also help manage social distancing and prevent overcrowding in certain parts of a building. That’s because it can measure the number of people within a space or a room, as well as the distances between those people.

“This helps businesses comply with local and corporate social distancing guidelines and occupancy limits,” Ryan said. “It also helps workplace managers continuously monitor and improve the safety of their space. For example, for those areas where people are in close contact, perhaps a change in policy or layout would encourage safer collaboration.”

VergeSense can also be a useful tool for companies that are planning to switch to a hybrid workforce model, where employees work from home some of the time, perhaps coming into the office once or twice a week. One of the platform’s capabilities is that it can provide real-time data on which desks or meeting rooms are in use, and which are not.

“Employees can trust that this is an accurate view of the occupied desks, even if a few individuals have temporarily stepped away for a meeting,” Ryan said. “Companies who have access to real-time data will be the most successful in adapting their space.”

VergeSense isn’t alone in offering technology tools to help companies safely manage their workplaces post-pandemic. Salesforce.com Inc., for example, this year debuted its Work.com platform that includes an occupancy management system for employees to reserve access to desks and conference rooms.

The VergeSense platform had proven itself to be useful even before the pandemic, though. The company launched in 2017 and counts names such as Cisco Systems Inc., Royal Dutch Shell, BP Plc., Telus Communications Inc., Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA and Rapid7 Inc. as its customers.

VergeSense said it plans to use the funding to accelerate research and product development and invest in strategic partnerships with the goal of accelerating its growth. The company added that it’s hiring across all departments and plans to double its employee headcount next year.

Image: VergeSense

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