Month: July 2020

Density raises $51M Series C led by Kleiner Perkins

July 28, 2020

When we first conceived of Density six years ago, we just wanted to know if there was a line at our favorite coffee shop. We thought it was odd there was an API for inclement weather but there wasn’t an API for how many people were in a space. We reasoned, if a solution didn’t already exist — which surely it must — it shouldn’t be more than a weekend project. How hard could it be to count people?

We were optimistic and wrong by about three years. As we tried to solve our own problem, we learned two important lessons. First, people are weird. They do things you wouldn’t expect — they bump into each other, take phone calls, and they bring a lot of stuff with them: bags and boxes, bicycles and baskets, tv’s and trash cans, chairs, carts, iPads, lunch, even other people sometimes. This makes counting them unfathomably complex. You can’t fault commodity products for being bad at the analysis. People are just really weird.

Second, we learned we weren’t alone. We met hundreds and now thousands of others trying to answer the same question — how many people used my office, bank, lounge, desk, space, floor, building, campus… city. If only we knew, we could reduce waste and energy use, improve access and productivity, clean the spaces that need it and skip the ones that don’t. If only we knew, we could A/B test physical space or even use less concrete! If only we knew how the world was used, we could measure how it works, identify its inefficiencies, and remake it.

Until recently, we had been helping hundreds of companies do just this — quantify how buildings were used so they could design them more effectively. Today, things have changed. We’ve been asked to help those same companies and hundreds more reopen their buildings and businesses safely. We’re helping them avoid leases they don’t need in order to prioritize payroll. We’re working to keep meat processing plants, distribution centers, manufacturers, offices, universities, even an entire village in Ohio open and safe.

The built world was modernizing before the pandemic. It will continue to modernize well after it’s over. In the meantime, we’re proud to say we’re not going anywhere and we’re eager to help.

Andrew Farah, Density CEO

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*Density will be using this investment to support its rapidly scaling customer base — customer success, sales, infrastructure, ops, manufacturing, engineering, and core product. Interested? We’re hiring.

** Thank you to Ilya Fushman, GP at Kleiner Perkins, who will be joining Density’s Board of Directors, and to the singular teams at KP, 01 Advisors, Upfront Ventures, Founders Fund, Launch, Ludlow Ventures, LPC Ventures, Greenoaks, and DTA.

*** And a sincere thank you to the litany of operators and individuals who have participated and helped along the way: Mark Suster, Dick Costolo, Jason Calacanis, Jonathon Triest, Joanna Coles, John Luttig, Alex Davis, Alex Rodriguez, Kevin and Julia Hartz, Cyan and Scott Banister, Adam Bain, Heather Podesta, Jeff Weinstein, Vinay Menda, Moshe Lifschitz, Nate Bosshard, Brian Silverstein, and so many others.

Returning to campus after COVID-19

COVID-19 has highlighted the delicate balance between protecting student health through remote learning and providing an effective curriculum in a virtual classroom. Internet connectivity issues, constant distractions, and a lack of direct supervision can all hinder a student’s ability to succeed. As such, teachers and students (and parents) are particularly keen on returning to campus and getting back to work.

But in order to do this, there are a slew of safety issues that need to be addressed before schools can ensure the continued health and well-being of students and faculty. Capacity requirements, cleaning schedules, and university-family relations are all key considerations that institutions have to define before bringing students back.

Safe by Density provides schools with the real-time data they need to protect their community. Displays, Alerts, and public web-links offer students and faculty the ability to choose when to visit busy areas like cafeterias, libraries, and bookstores. Safe Analytics enables staff to streamline cleaning services based on actual usage. These metrics help schools maintain social distancing on campus, avoid exceeding capacity limits in high-density areas, and reassure families that all safety precautions are being taken to keep their students healthy.

Hotspot monitoring

High-density areas such as cafeterias, libraries, and gyms present a much higher risk for viral transmission because of constant student foot traffic. By utilizing Safe by Density, university staff and students can monitor the number of individuals in each of these ‘hotspots.’ Students can rely on accurate, real-time occupancy metrics to avoid crowded areas and navigate campus safely.

For example, many universities have two or more cafeterias in order to provide efficient meal-access for students on different sides of campus. Safe by Density allows those schools to set capacity limits on each cafeteria and disseminate that information to students. Then, students can decide which cafeteria is less crowded before they leave their dorm or study space, thereby saving time avoiding long lines and keeping themselves away from large groups where COVID-19 will have a better opportunity to spread between people.

“My friends and I have talked about how crowded [the cafeteria] gets right after class. I spend so much time just waiting to get in, I could be more productive during that time.” – Danielle Galvao, Computer Science major at Notre Dame

Usage-based cleaning

The majority of universities subscribe to hourly or timed cleaning schedules. While these can be effective in predicting when large rushes of students visit certain facilities, like cafeterias or study halls, there are many circumstances on campus when those schedules are too rigid to provide adequate cleaning services in changing environments that need immediate attention. Increased sanitation efforts will put a strain on maintenance and cleaning crews if they’re left to guess which buildings on campus need the most attention and how often.

Safe by Density equips custodians and cleaning staff with the tools to track and analyze the actual usage of school facilities. Being able to accurately monitor when a high volume of students visit certain facilities enables custodians to streamline staffing schedules and avoid cleaning areas that have been unused. A university’s custodial resources are crucial to the continued health and wellness of students and faculty, and this data helps them organize their efforts more effectively.

University-family relations

When it comes to schools reopening campuses, families are naturally (and rightfully) concerned about their student’s health and safety. It’s important to recognize that because campuses are central locations hosting thousands of people from all over the world, they inherently present an elevated risk of viral transmission. As such, many families are reluctant to send their children back to school, especially if the university isn’t implementing every possible precaution to navigate the risk. By integrating Safe by Density with university student portals, both parents and students can monitor the capacity of busy areas. This enables students to make informed decisions about where to spend their time, and it provides parents the opportunity to check on how the school is keeping up with the busyness of a new semester.

As a college student myself, having a system like Safe by Density implemented at school would give me peace of mind. It would show that my university is taking the necessary precautions to offer the college experience I deserve, while still ensuring that I have the tools to safely navigate my campus. Knowing that public spaces are being consistently monitored and sanitized would help me feel more comfortable visiting my whole campus and not just hiding out in my dorm and in the quad. We’re not sure what “normal” will look like after COVID, but systems like Safe by Density can grant students the opportunity to get back to school and focus on what we’re there to do: learn.