As companies debate the pros and cons of opening their offices during the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for Envoy’s workplace management platform has soared.
Since launching its Envoy Protect return-to-work platform in May, the smart-office startup has helped more than 1.3 million offices open more safely during the pandemic. To keep up with demand, Envoy recently expanded its international operations in London and India and, domestically, opened a new office in Colorado, which represents the company’s third national hub alongside Kansas City, Missouri, and its headquarters in San Francisco. Philip Lacor, Envoy’s chief revenue officer, said the company reviewed 20 cities before deciding on Denver.
“We went through a very extensive process to think about where our next U.S. hub would be,” Lacor told Built In. “The markets we are in are very fast-paced and very dynamic.”
Founded in 2013, Envoy offers a workplace management system that customers use to digitize visitor registration desks, book conference rooms, manage package deliveries and more. As customers like 23andMe began deploying Envoy Protect across their global operations, Lacor said the startup knew it needed to scale.
When thinking about where to expand next, Lacor said company officials started by asking Envoy’s backers to recommend the best hiring hubs — the startup has raised a total of $59.2 million from investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Menlo Ventures. Executives also grilled real estate experts about the characteristics of each city’s population, asking about its size, growth rate, education levels and more. Envoy officials looked at the available talent density in each market, as well as the existing tech ecosystem.
“We were like, ‘Is there enough supply of talent, and what is the competition in these markets?’” Lacor said.
Ultimately, the city’s convenient airport connection to its Bay Area headquarters made Denver a good fit for Envoy’s expansion, Lacor said. The 160-person company has opened a 15-person office in the city. That team will assist Envoy’s 130-person office in San Francisco — which Lacor aims to grow by 25 people by the end of the year — in developing its Envoy Protect system to support the flexible workplaces of the future.
“We wanted to have access to a broad and diverse talent pool. That’s the reason we have offices right now in San Francisco and Kansas City,” Lacor said. “We’ve dealt with continued growth, and we wanted to tap into an extra talent pool. That’s why we chose Denver as our next hub.”
