Density raises $51M from Kleiner Perkins to reopen buildings safely

Density announced it has successfully closed $51 million in Series C funding. The new funding round was led by Kleiner Perkins and includes 01 Advisors, Upfront Ventures, Founders Fund, Ludlow Ventures, Launch, DTA with participation from Alex Rodriguez, LPC Ventures, Julia and Kevin Hartz, Cyan and Scott Banister, and others. Kleiner Perkins Partner, Ilya Fushman, will be joining Density’s board of directors.

"Thirty-two million Americans are unemployed and nearly half of the workforce can't work from home. The world is trying to reopen. In many places essential businesses are required to remain open. Companies are just trying to do this safely," said Andrew Farah, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Density. “Our team is working around the clock to handle unprecedented demand from offices, manufacturers, grocery stores, industrial plants, governments, etc. They’re relying on Density to rationalize real estate and keep people safe."

According to U.S. Commercial Real Estate Services, there is $1 trillion in unused office space in the United States. Now more than ever, owners and occupiers are evaluating how their physical spaces are used and how they can preserve resources. Coronavirus has accelerated the need to track building performance. Accurate utilization data is shaping the future of real-estate. Density counts people in any space anonymously, accurately, and in real-time to help businesses safely reopen their offices and measure ROI of real-estate portfolios.

Density is trusted by hundreds of companies like Pinterest, Booz Allen Hamilton, Hello Fresh, NYU, Resorts World Casino. Many of them are using Safe by Density to assist in reopening their buildings. Prior to this round, Density had raised $23 million bringing total funding to date to $74 million.

“Density is powering the future of how we measure and manage physical space, and there hasn't been a more critical moment in our history to get this right," said Ilya Fushman, Partner, Kleiner Perkins. "Helping businesses reopen safely during a pandemic is just the start for Density, and we're excited to lead the Series C.”

"The economic impact of the shutdowns is measured in the trillions," said Dick Costolo, Partner at 01 Advisors. "Density's offering is well-timed with the rapidly increasing demand for solutions that enable social distancing and allow businesses to reopen safely. Andrew and the team have built cutting-edge technology that we believe will usher in a new era of data-driven decision making for physical spaces and workplaces. We are excited to collaborate with and support them as they work to build a great company in a new category.

"Density anonymously tracks how people move around buildings,” said Mark Suster, General Partner at Upfront Ventures. “The proof of the value is that most of the top companies in Silicon Valley already use our product for safety and security. To say that COVID-19 has accelerated demand for Density's product would be an understatement. We had to raise a big round of capital just to keep up with demand.”

"Understanding how many people are utilizing a space is critically important, since real estate is the number one, two or three expense items for almost every business,” said Jason Calcanis, Founder and CEO of LAUNCH. ”Andrew and his team figured this out six years ago, and with their technology, partners are able to make very strategic decisions about how to manage space. Those partners are saving millions of dollars a year, which can be redeployed into R&D, salaries or simply turned into profits."

“Given the current environment, helping tenants to understand how many people can safely occupy their spaces and buildings will be critical in managing, designing and improving the real estate of tomorrow.” said Eric Roseman, Vice President at LPC Ventures.

With this round of funding, Density will accelerate investment in software and product, expand its sales team, and scale their platform.