VergeSense

VergeSense develops software and sensor hardware that measure how corporate office space is actually used and turn that data into real estate, workplace and facilities decisions. Its current product, the Meridian platform, lets customers upload a floor plan to model demand forecasts and scenario plans without hardware, then improve accuracy by layering in additional signals such as occupancy sensors, existing WiFi infrastructure, videoconferencing systems and room/desk booking systems. Meridian is built on what the company calls the Large Spatial Model, an AI model it states is trained on more than 250 million square feet of real-world occupancy data.

The platform is organized around two capability sets: Predictive Planning (portfolio right-sizing, design iteration and stack planning, forecasting the effect of headcount changes, policy shifts and lease decisions) and Occupancy Intelligence (analytics, the Infinity Sensor, data unification and integrations). Named use cases include portfolio evaluation and right-sizing, space availability, intelligent space design, neighborhood planning, occupancy planning and workplace automation such as stacking, cleaning schedules and resource planning driven by real occupancy. Earlier positioning described the company as a sensor-as-a-system platform: sensing devices containing multiple sensor types including an image sensor, paired with a cloud platform that pre-trains machine learning models which run on the hardware and report occupancy analysis back to VergeSense's cloud. Its Signs of Life technology is described as distinguishing people from objects with 95% accuracy, separating passive from active occupancy.

Coverage packages are offered by space type — lobbies, foyers and open areas (entryway sensors or WiFi); conference rooms, collaboration spaces and desks (area sensors plus space booking data); neighborhoods; and whole floors — with customers able to mix VergeSense sensors and existing building system data. The company states sensor-derived data is over 95% accurate while deduplicated WiFi data yields roughly 85% accuracy, making WiFi better suited to larger open areas and neighborhoods.

Founding story

VergeSense was founded by Dan Ryan (CEO/co-founder) and Kelby Green and took part in Y Combinator's Summer 2017 batch, initially building an AI-powered sensing device and sensor-as-a-system platform for facility management. The company states its founding mission was to create intelligent spaces where people can thrive.

Business model

VergeSense sells to enterprises through a combination of hardware and software: a subscription to the occupancy intelligence platform, plus hardware costs when customers deploy VergeSense entryway or area sensors. Customers that begin only with data from existing building systems such as WiFi pay a software subscription fee alone. Pricing varies by the data sources used and the amount of space measured, and packages are configured with an occupancy intelligence specialist. The company reported 400% ARR growth from Q2 2020 to Q2 2021.

Recurring platform subscription priced on data sources connected and square footage measured, with optional one-time hardware costs for VergeSense sensors; software-only subscriptions are available for customers using existing WiFi and building system data.

Traction

The company reports 200+ enterprise customers across 50+ countries, 140M+ square feet measured on its packages page and 250M+ sq ft of occupancy data underpinning its AI model. In November 2021 it reported analyzing over 40 million square feet, customers in 29 countries including 26 of the Fortune 500, 400% ARR growth from Q2 2020 to Q2 2021, a more than doubled customer roster and 144% team growth. Published customer outcomes include Fresenius saving $6M annually and $60M over ten years in lease avoidance through a headquarters consolidation, a consulting firm avoiding $50K per month in leasing costs and eliminating 4,160 hours of ghosted meetings, $1.5M in buildout cost avoidance at Rapid7, and $2M in annual savings for a global financial services firm that automated cleaning based on occupancy data.

Latest developments

VergeSense currently markets the Meridian platform, which combines Predictive Planning and Occupancy Intelligence and can generate demand forecasts and scenario plans from an uploaded floor plan without any hardware, refining results as customers connect sensors, WiFi, videoconferencing and booking data. Meridian runs on the Large Spatial Model trained on 250M+ sq ft of occupancy data, and the company states it serves 200+ enterprises in 50+ countries.