Companies need to add contactless-entry tech to safely reopen offices. Here are 7 firms ranging from startups to huge conglomerates that are set for a surge in business.

man in protective suit disinfecting office work space
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  • In the wake of the coronavirus, landlords and companies are planning to make big changes to the office to make them safer.
  • A recent CBRE survey of 203 companies found that roughly half of them are considering installing touchless technology as part of their plans to return to the office. 
  • Access control, or technology that opens office doors, is a major area where contactless technology is being adapted.
  • Companies have developed technology that replaces a traditional key fob, which requires touching or getting extremely close to a sensor, with smartphone technology that promotes more distance.
  • Business Insider has created a list of seven access control companies that offer contactless products, from venture-backed startups to large, global conglomerates.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
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The office is almost back in business. Stay-at-home orders are being lifted around the world, and soon enough, at least some professional employees will be back at their desks. The office will change drastically to prevent as much virus transmission as possible, with changes ranging from new schedules and more remote work to actual capital improvements of spaces. 

One area that will likely see a lot of demand is access control, as landlords and companies looking to minimize touching of shared surfaces are considering contactless options. A recent CBRE survey of 203 companies found that roughly half of them are considering installing touchless technology as part of their plans to return to the office. 

"There's a contactless future that we need to be living in," Ryan Freedman, CEO of real estate and investment firm Corigin. 

This is great news for the wide range of companies that work in the office access control space, potentially setting the stage for a historic boon. Companies ranging from VC-backed startups to lock manufacturers who have been adding tech to their arsenal are standing in wait to provide the contactless entryways of the post-coronavirus future. 

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We've listed seven of the different players from startups to major security companies who could benefit from the coming wave of demand for contactless technology.

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Proxy

Denis Mars  Proxy
Denis Mars, CEO and co-founder of Proxy Proxy

Proxy, founded in 2016, trades the traditional key fob for the cellphone. While it's far from the only company to turn the cell-phone into a key, the company's sensors use a low-energy Bluetooth signal to open up doors without the user having to take it out of their pocket, though it can also use facial scans, thumbprints, or a wave of the phone.

Proxy recently acquired Motiv, the maker of digital ring which tracks heart rate, sleep, and personal fitness, and will now Motiv's rings to the list of ways that Proxy' can unlock doors. The company is also looking to expand the definition of access control: allowing its service to give instant access to WiFi networks and printers,.

Proxy, based in San Francisco, has raised $58.8 million to date, including a $42 million Series B round led by Scale Venture Partners with additional funding from  Kleiner Perkins, Y Combinator, Silicon Valley Bank, and West Ventures.

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Openpath

Openpath
An employee tapping the Openpath reader Openpath

Openpath is another venture-backed access control company that offers a wide range of ways to open a door. It integrates directly with the phone and uses WiFi, cellular signal, and Bluetooth to open up doors, either allowing for triple-verification of identity or allowing whichever verification method it quickest to open up the door. 

Users can unlock doors from the app in their phone, or can wave their hand in front of the reader, or touch it with their hands (or elbows to prevent potential disease spread. It also provides support for traditional key cards. 

The company has clients across North America, and earlier this year said it was used by over 150,00 people days. It has raised at least $27 million in funding, raising a venture round of unknown size in March form Allegion Ventures, the venture fund of global security conglomerate Allegion, with a market cap of more than $9 billion.

 

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Kisi

Kisi Founders
Kisi cofounders Bernhard Mehl, CEO, and Max Schuetz, COO Kisi

Kisi, founded in 2014, also supports smartphone access, using Bluetooth and near field communication (the tech that powers Apple Pay and Google Wallet) to open up doors. The company also supports traditional key fobs. 

The New York-based company has raised about $1.6 million in two seed rounds in 2015 and 2016 from Techammer, PR exec Marcy Simon, Windforce Ventures, Point Nine Capital, and Mesa Ventures. The company hasn't raised funding since, but was named to Inc. 500's list of fastest growing companies in America in 2018 and 2019.

 

 

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Brivo

Brivo Wireless Locks
Brivo

Brivo, founded in 1999, comes from an earlier generation of access control companies, and touts itself as "The Original Cloud."

The company started by creating an integrated cloud system for access control, they have since branched into contactless access control with a mobile app, that uses a phone as a key. It also allows building security to manage access remotely from an app as well, from initiating lockdowns to assigning or revoking credentials.

The Bethesda-based company was acquired by Dean Drako, the CEO of cloud video surveillance company Eagle Eye Networks, in 2015 for $50 million dollars. The company integrates with video surveillance programs but operates separately from Eagle Eye Networks.  

Earlier this year, Brivo acquired a smart vacation-home startup Parakeet. Brivo operates in offices and multifamily buildings. 

 

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Salto

keys
Flickr via jronaldlee

Salto, based in Oiartzun, Spain, has provided access control and electronic locks for a range of applications since 2001. The company provides solutions for office, as well as hotels, hospitality and other government functions. The company boasts that it is used on over 300,000 doors world-wide. 

The company collaborates with a number of contactless access control companies but also has its own mobile platform, JustIN Mobile, which uses Bluetooth to open up doors with a registered smartphone, opening doors by placing the door near the reader. This can be combined with traditional RFID key fobs. 

Salto also makes actual electronic locks, which they coat with antimicrobial material to prevent against the spread of disease.  

Salto is a private company, but Spanish private equity firm Alantra purchased a minority stake of the company in January of 2014.

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dormakaba

Riet Coadonau, CEO of dormakaba
Riet Coadonau, CEO of dormakaba dormakaba

dormakaba is a Zurich-based security company that was created by a merger between Kaba, a Swiss lock company that has existed since 1862, and Dorma, a German door and security company founded in 1908. The company went public in March of 2016 and now has a marketcap of $2.96 billion and roughly 16,000 employees worldwide. 

The company provides a wide range of door and access control products, from automatic doors and moveable walls to mechanical keys, for a wide range of commercial clients. 

While the company still supports traditional keyfobs and keys, it also manufactures mobile entry systems that use bluetooth to open doors. 

A subsidiary, Farpointe, also has its own mobile access control product, CONEKT.

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HID Global

Austin, Texas
Shutterstock

HID Global, an Austin-based manufacturer of access control products, was founded in 1991 as a subsidiary of Howard Hughes's Hughes Aircraft. It was acquired in 2001 by Swedish lock and security conglomerate Assa Abloy, which now has a market cap of $21.35 billion. 

HID manufactures a range of access control technology, originally focusing on RFID key fobs for a wide range of clients, but the company also provides contactless mobile access. Their product, Mobile Access, works similarly to other mobile entry software, using smartphones, tablets or even smart wearables to unlock doors. 

 

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