In the fall of 2019, Honghao Deng and his co-founder Jiani Zeng joined 500 Global’s accelerator program, as part of Batch 26. Their company Butlr, an MIT Media Lab spin-out, had developed sensors that anonymously track through body heat how people move indoors, to help businesses manage the use of commercial space. Applications include monitoring foot traffic, maintaining clean bathrooms, or activating air conditioning when needed.
Butlr was set on deploying its sensors in commercial buildings and retail stores, when Covid-19 hit and traffic vanished during lockdowns. “This whole entrepreneurial journey is always winding. In a way it feels like you're almost on track, but it's never the case, right?” says Honghao, a computational designer.
This may sound familiar to most founders, but Honghao and Jiani made the best out of a bad situation. They decided to focus on helping commercial spaces reopen by managing occupancy. The advent of hybrid work also brought new opportunities to provide businesses with data, as they make leasing and energy-saving decisions.
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