iLobby raises $100 million to help enterprises manage on-site visitors

Enterprise-focused visitor management software provider iLobby has raised $100 million in a round of funding from Insight Partners.

Despite the rapid push to embrace remote working in 2020, many — if not most — businesses will likely return to physical office spaces in some capacity once it’s safe to do so. And, of course, some businesses are not well-suited to fully remote work.

Founded out of Toronto, Canada in 2013, iLobby offers a number of automated tools, including mail management, which uses computer vision to streamline incoming and outgoing letters and packages. For example, front of house or mailroom staff can snap a photo of the label on each piece of mail using the iLobby app, which automatically matches that photo to the intended recipient and sends an alert. However, the company’s core focus is in the visitor management realm, as it allows companies to track and manage everyone who enters and leaves a facility, from employees to contractors, couriers, and guests. The company’s clients include Boeing, FedEx, Hershey, Pepsi, Nikon, Pearson International Airport, Scotia Bank, and LG.

With a fresh $100 million in the bank — the first external investment in its seven-year history — iLobby is well-financed to continue pushing its platform into “highly regulated” facilities spanning multinational corporations, airports, government premises, banks, and more.

Smarter buildings

A slew of companies that develop smart building sensors for harnessing big data have attracted sizable investments from VCs in the past year, further evidence of growing demand for technology that helps companies get the most from their physical spaces and understand exactly what is happening where. Fitting nicely within this space, iLobby answers the question of “who.”

CEO Ariel Mashiyev told VentureBeat the investment would be used to “scale and expand [iLobby’s] services to meet rising demand for enterprise visitor management software.” Mashiyev said the company witnessed increased demand for this technology during the pandemic. Indeed, building owners and operators may now need greater insights into who is occupying a facility at any given time, and how many people are sharing the space. These are the kinds of insights iLobby enables through tools such as self sign-in kiosks, ID scanning, and facial recognition systems. The platform can be used to monitor and manage the number of people in a workplace and help enforce capacity policies around social distancing. And because iLobby tracks everyone who enters and leaves a facility, it can also serve to automate contact tracing and reporting if any COVID-19 cases are detected.

iLobby also connects with myriad business tools, including Slack and Salesforce, as well as user directory software, email, calendar, and cloud services.

Above: iLobby dashboard

But iLobby’s primary purpose is to replace archaic systems that may involve signing paper logs at receptions and showing ID cards to security personnel, among other processes that can slow people down as they enter a building. Therefore, this technology will continue to hold value long after the current global health crisis has eased.

In addition to operational efficiencies it offers front of house staff, iLobby also provides analytics and insights into the flow of traffic throughout a building. For instance, the iLobby Portal can show real-time data on everyone who is signed in at the moment, as well as 30-day trends and daily or monthly reports that are sent automatically to key security and management personnel. “This significantly simplifies activities such as end-of-month safety hours reporting, contractor invoicing reports, and more,” Mashiyev said.

Above: iLobby Portal

There are numerous players in the visitor management space, from giants such as Honeywell to startups like Proxyclick, which raised $15 million last year. That iLobby has raised such a substantial round of funding at this juncture suggests investors are confident brick-and-mortar facilities will be around for a while.

“Many offices will embrace a hybrid in-person/remote model, and some enterprises — like factories, airports, and government offices — rely on in-person operations,” Mashiyev said. “To this end, iLobby provides the software its customers need to safely and efficiently identify visitors and employees in a post-COVID world to mitigate risk and ensure safety.”