using data to measure the impact of business decisions—Toyota’s influential lean manufacturing methods are the most famous example. Furthermore, Japan’s struggling economy and shrinking population mean that the “only way for companies to really grow their business is through increasing productivity,” Waber says.
“That is fundamentally what our technology is about,” he continues. “Really showing companies and individuals—here are the things that will make you more productive and happier at work.
By using data, putting hard numbers on these things, companies don’t have to spend years thinking about what sort of org chart should we use, how to lay out this office, what sort of computational system should we use.”
Humanyze will use the cash infusion to continue improving its product. It’s making its sensor badges more compact and incorporating radio-frequency identification and near field communication technologies, so the badges can double as keycards for unlocking office doors, Waber says.
He also wants to invest in software and staff to ensure Humanyze has the capacity to manage the influx of users and data it expects to take on if it keeps signing up clients as planned. (Waber wouldn’t share specific figures, but he says the company’s sales in the first quarter of this year almost surpassed last year’s total.)
Humanyze currently employs 16 people, double the size of its staff in February 2015. The startup says it will continue hiring, but the pace will (unsurprisingly) depend on what the numbers say. “We use our own data to ensure we’re integrating people appropriately,” Waber says. “We’re very data-driven in how we do things.”
