Artificial intelligence startup VergeSense closes $9M in funding to meet the increasing demand for its AI-powered workplace sensors

VergeSense, a Y Combinator-backed tech startup that develops an AI-powered sensing device for facility management, announced today it has closed $9 million in strategic round to meet increased customer demand during the Coronavirus crisis and scale its analytics software platform.

Founded in 2017 by Dan Ryan, the San Francisco-based VergeSense is a software-as-a-service startup that develops artificial intellegence-powered workplace sensors. Its sensor-as-a-system platform consists of sensing devices containing a series of different sensor hardware, including an image sensor, coupled with a cloud platform for pre-training machine learning models that run on the hardware, process data and report occupancy analysis back to VergeSense’s cloud.

“In the midst of a world crisis, VergeSense has 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.” – Rob Martens, president of Allegion Ventures

VergeSense has quickly emerged as a predominant provider in the burgeoning workplace sensor market since launching in 2017. Today the company 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.”