Articles

2020.06.12

VergeSense – The PropTech Meets the New Demand and Thrive Against the Trend

Recently in Japan, the COVID-19 emergency status has been dismissed. However, that doesn’t mean people are going back to the office and working as the same old days. We believe that remote work will be the new normal. Depends on the type of industry and occupation, employees may continue to work from home and go to the office only 2-3 times a week. Hence, the value provided by the office will be reviewed again in terms of safety, productivity, and satisfaction.

Similar topics are being discussed overseas. It is an urgent matter to not only improve safety, productivity and satisfaction of the office, but also to find various flexibility to utilize the working spaces. Under this circumstance that the investment decision can be hugely influenced by COVID-19, VergeSense, one U.S. PropTech (property technology) company that provides services truly contribute to this field, has successfully raised funds.

VergeSense’s product is a sensor that can be easily installed on the ceiling. This sensor can detect the number of residents at any time and analyze the flow of people on the floor. Before COVID-19, the customers introduced in VergeSense mainly to promote a better connection and cooperation among people to increase productivity and satisfaction. After COVID-19, the customers change to introduce VergeSense in to ensure social distance is applied in the space. From the perspective of the employers, it is for the safety of their employees, and from the perspective of the building managers, it is for the safety of their tenants.

In response to the changes in customers’ needs, VergeSense provides a “Cleaning Plan” for the office in some specific areas. The plan is made based on the “social distance score” (including the average distance of people, the number of contacts, etc.), daily occupancy reports, and personnel flow analysis. In addition, if the customer requires, it is also possible to integrate VergeSense with other Apps used in the office. People can check the occupancy rate in the office in real-time and judge whether to go or not to go to the office with confidence.

VergeSense was founded in 2017. 40 out of its 70 customers are big companies in FORTUNE 1000. So far it’s sensor has been installed in 250 buildings distributed in 15 countries, and it is receiving reports from 6 million sensors every day. On May 21, 2020, VergeSense announced that it has successfully raised US$9 million fund from Allegion Ventures, JLL Spark, MetaProp, Y Combinator, Pathbreaker Ventures, and West Ventures. As the investor, president of Allegion Ventures mentioned that VergeSense is not only developing products to meet the needs of social distance associated with COVID-19, it is also working on improving productivity, engagement, and cost-efficiency.

It is always thought-provoking to observe the new trends and learn from others’ success stories. Does VergeSense’s product meet your need? Or have you come up with some better business ideas to thrive against the trend? We will share with you more PropTech and their product/service in the following weeks.

RELATED ARTICLES