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HAX’s Butlr raises $20M to develop privacy-centric occupancy sensors
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Hannah DeTavis
Butlr
Butlr is developing wireless sensors that use AI to gain insight into human movement—all while safeguarding privacy. Source: Butlr

Butlr (HAX 2022), an MIT Media Lab spinout developing occupancy sensors, has raised $20 million in a series A round, according to TechCrunch’s article “Butlr lands new cash to put people-detecting sensors in the office”.

The round was supported by strategic investor Carrier Global Corporation, E14, Tiger Global, Primetime Partners, Union Labs, Tectonic Ventures, and Hyperplane. This recent funding round brings Butlr’s total capital raised to $29.1 million, TechCrunch reports. Butler is an alum of SOSV”s HAX program for hard tech startups.

Butlr is combining thermal sensors with AI to gather data on space occupancy—for instance, in senior care facilities and commercial real estate. Connected only to Wi-Fi and a hub, Butlr’s thermal sensors interface with a cloud dashboard and API to reveal information about busy office areas and how many people come and go in a given space.  

“The pandemic brought home the need to understand occupancy and utilization data for real estate executives,” co-founder and CEO Honghao Deng told TechCrunch. “Whereas pre-pandemic, they could assume everyone would be in every day of the week, that’s no longer the case. Real estate and workplace executives need to establish a new baseline and make data-driven decisions given the dollars at risk with regard to office space and employee productivity.”

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