Soofa
Boston, US Β· Founded 2014 Β· 15 employees on LinkedIn Β· 5 known investors
Soofa manufactures and operates solar-powered digital kiosks for outdoor advertising and city communications. The company serves cities and advertisers with smart city infrastructure designed to deliver sustainable information access and advertising capabilities.
Also known as Soofa Digital
Investors Β· 5
Also in the syndicate Β· 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Soofa operates an outdoor advertising and smart city communication platform built around solar-powered digital signage. Its core product, the Soofa Sign, is a 100% solar-powered electronic paper display that requires no wiring, can be installed in under an hour with four bolts into a concrete surface, and shows real-time public transit information, local event calendars, polls, news, city social media feeds, community messages and public service announcements. Signs can be customized to community branding and paired with wayfinding stickers highlighting nearby attractions. A Pedestrian Trend Tracker provides on-demand foot traffic data so municipalities can assess the use of public spaces; the Town of Brookline is cited as a user of this data.
The company also sells advertising inventory on the same network, marketing exclusive city locations, demographic and geographic targeting, campaign measurement and reporting to brands. A self-serve "Book Now" option on the company website lets brands and small businesses build custom digital campaigns without a long-term commitment. Soofa's earlier product was a solar-powered public bench that charged phones and tablets via USB, carried internet-connected displays with transit and local event information and advertising, and used sensors to measure activity in parks, plazas and bus stops. In 2025 the company announced ZerOOH, described as a 75-inch full-color zero-carbon street kiosk, marketed with 75% savings and slated for availability in the third quarter of 2025.
Founding story
Soofa was launched out of the MIT Media Lab and Harvard in 2014 by a team of women founders: Sandra Y. Richter and Nan Zhao, both MIT graduates, and Jutta Friedrichs, a Harvard Graduate School of Design graduate. Richter had worked with municipalities in South Africa, Japan, China and Europe on smart transportation systems alongside companies including Volkswagen, Lockheed Martin and Verizon to define smart city strategies and evaluate business models. Friedrichs previously co-founded Xindao's product design studio and the furniture design studio MΓ in Shanghai. Richter described the founding mission as bringing user-centered design to smart cities, asking who looks out for the "consumers of the city."
Business model
Soofa sells and deploys its solar-powered signs and kiosks to cities, municipalities, campuses and other public-space operators, and separately sells advertising placements on that installed network to brands and local businesses. Advertising can be purchased through direct sales or through a self-serve online booking tool, and the company has also partnered with a street-media operator to sell inventory in at least one market.
Revenue derives from city and institutional deployments of Soofa Signs (offered in packages) and from out-of-home advertising sold on the sign network, including online, lower-commitment campaign purchases via the Book Now platform and sponsorship opportunities.
Traction
By 2017 the solar bench had been installed in roughly 75 cities, 23 states and five countries, with deployments including Boston, Miami and Los Angeles. Coverage from March 2022 reported city and municipal partners in 41 cities across 15 states after tripling U.S. reach in 2021. Announced deployments include Amherst, Watertown, Chelsea, Northampton and Brookline in Massachusetts; Manchester, New Hampshire; Sugar Hill, Georgia; Salt Lake City metro and Summit County, Utah; Greater Los Angeles, Sacramento, Eastvale and San Jacinto, California; Florida; and Atlanta. In 2025 signs were installed across Solano Community College in Fairfield, California, and two signs were placed with Longwood Collective.
Latest developments
In 2025 Soofa announced ZerOOH, a 75-inch full-color zero-carbon street kiosk marketed as available in Q3 2025 with reservations open; launched a Book Now self-serve advertising option on its website for lower-commitment custom campaigns; installed solar-powered Soofa Signs across Solano Community College in Fairfield, California (May 2025); and deployed two signs with Longwood Collective.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Soofa describes itself as the leading solar-powered communication tool for cities and advertisers in the U.S. and operates a digital out-of-home network of solar-powered E-ink displays. Press coverage in March 2022 reported that its U.S. reach tripled in 2021 and that the platform was used by city and municipal partners in 41 cities across 15 states.
The signs run entirely on solar power with electronic paper displays, requiring no wiring or grid connection and producing no emissions, and can be installed in under an hour. The company combines paid advertising inventory with free community messaging, PSAs, transit data and wayfinding for cities, and supplies pedestrian foot-traffic analytics from the same hardware. It is MIT- and women-founded and positions its ZerOOH kiosk as the first 75-inch full-color zero-carbon street kiosk.
Technology
Solar-powered electronic paper (E-ink) displays that operate without wires or grid power and produce no emissions during operation; sensor-equipped hardware measuring pedestrian and public-space activity; a content platform with apps for transit data, event calendars, polls, news and social feeds; a data product (Pedestrian Trend Tracker) exposing foot traffic trends; and a newer full-color 75-inch zero-carbon street kiosk (ZerOOH).
Go-to-market
A city development team handles inbound requests from communities wanting signs, supported by information kits, white papers and case studies. Advertisers are reached through direct sales, sponsorship offerings, a self-serve online booking tool, and reseller/partnership arrangements such as the InSite Street Media partnership covering Atlanta assets.
Municipal and city governments, towns, transit agencies, business improvement and neighborhood organizations, college campuses, plus national and local brands, small businesses and advertising agencies buying out-of-home media.
Geography
United States-focused, headquartered in the Cambridge/Boston, Massachusetts area, with sign deployments across New England, the Southeast (Georgia, Florida), the Mountain West (Utah) and the West Coast (California). Earlier bench deployments were reported across 23 states and five countries.
History
Founded in 2014 out of MIT and Harvard in Boston, the company first commercialized the Soofa bench, a solar bench with USB charging and sensors for measuring activity in public spaces. In 2017 it raised a $2.5 million seed round and told press it planned to hire 10 to 20 people, using Cambridge and Boston as its R&D testing ground while adding partner cities. It subsequently introduced the Soofa Sign, a solar-powered digital display for city communication and advertising, and expanded across the U.S. with launches in Florida (January 2021), New Hampshire (March 2021), the West Coast (September 2021), Utah (November 2021) and Georgia. In June 2021 it launched an online platform for hyperlocal outdoor advertising, in March 2022 it unveiled a refreshed screen design and new city capabilities, and in April 2022 it announced a partnership with InSite Street Media. In 2025 it announced the ZerOOH 75-inch color kiosk and a self-serve Book Now advertising option.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Timeline Β· 19
launches, deals, and filingsSoofa partnered with Solano Community College in Fairfield, California, installing solar-powered Soofa Signs across campus as part of the college's infrastructure modernization and student communication efforts.
Longwood Collective partnered with Soofa to install two Soofa Signs to support accessibility and connectivity in its area.
Soofa introduced ZerOOH, described as the first 75-inch full-color zero-carbon street kiosk, with reservations open and availability stated for Q3 2025.
Soofa added a Book Now feature to its website allowing brands and small businesses to build custom digital campaigns quickly and at reduced cost without a major commitment.
Soofa partnered with InSite Street Media, a street-level media and college campus signage operator, to offer advertising on Soofa's assets in Atlanta, Georgia.
Soofa enhanced its solar-powered digital platform with a redesigned screen and new features intended to be more user-friendly for city leaders and more engaging for community members and businesses.
Soofa closed a $2.5 million seed round disclosed in an SEC filing, led by Boston-area firms Underscore VC and Pillar with participation from earlier backer Accomplice. Proceeds were earmarked for hiring and product investment.
$2.5M source β
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Soofasoofadigital.com Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Soofa do?
- Soofa makes solar-powered digital signs and kiosks that cities use for communication and advertisers use for outdoor media.
- Who are Soofa's investors?
- Soofa's investors include Eastward Capital Partners, Momenta Ventures, Underscore VC, The E14 Fund.
- Where is Soofa headquartered?
- Soofa is headquartered in Boston, US.