It’s a Deal! DSIF Invests in The PropTech Start-up Clairify

Emilija Banytė

Emilija is a BSc Communication Science student at the University of Twente and 2020-2021 Brand Director at DSIF. She is responsible for online/offline marketing and is one of the decision-makers when it comes to investing.

A total amount of 50.000 euros has been invested in Clairify, a start-up founded by the two University of Twente alumni Wim Kamerman, Tibor Casteleijn and University of Amsterdam alumnus Felix van den Horst. Clairify’s technology is changing the real estate sector with its innovative smart sensors that measure the air quality and effects on people's health.

DSIF x Clairify

At the end of October, we started our journey with Clairify, a promising start-up that is on its way to improve buildings’ climate and comfort with its innovation. We observed the team’s motivation to revolutionise the real estate sector with its unique technology from the very first email. That led us to have many more conversations and meetings about their product, team and vision. Clairify came to us with existing technology that had been tested and approved by several companies. Their client testimonials showed how powerful their technology is to increase productivity and decrease absence due to sickness, which indicated that the team works tirelessly on having the best product in the market.

“After a thorough evaluation, we realised that Clairify’s sensor can be a solution, or even lead to the discovery of several problems relating to air quality. It is an innovative idea, led by a passionate and intelligent team. Thus, we are elated to be among those who will contribute to Clairify’s growth “, says Keabetswe Tenyane, President of DSIF.

DSIFs invested capital will support Clairify in the R&D process, the expansion of production in the Netherlands, and the attraction of knowledgeable talents in the journey to becoming the leading indoor air quality sensor and analytics provider. DSIF is excited to partner with Clairify and work together to disrupt the property sector.

“This investment enables us to speed up the further development of our products and services,” says Wim Kamerman, Co-founder and CTO at Clairify.

About Clairify

Clairify designs sensors that measure air quality in offices, schools, and public buildings. One of the few problems that their technology tries to solve is high sick-leave rates and limited productivity. Poor air quality has an enormous effect on the building’s occupants and working employees since it is directly linked to absenteeism, reduced productivity and decresed cognitive function. Clairify’s innovation aims to use smart sensors’ data to better understand the air quality on the building’s occupants’ wellbeing and productivity. With that, Clairify assists managers on-site to create a healthy work environment and improve the building’s occupants’ wellbeing.

“Everyone deserves to work in a healthy office. We help you improve indoor air quality. Data-driven, people-focused,” says Felix van den Horst, the Co-founder and CEO at Clairify.

Clairify differentiates itself from other companies by measuring aerosols that are becoming more demanded on the market with the current pandemic. With Clairify, facility and asset managers can check ventilation effectiveness and climate adjustments to keep the best indoor air quality standards for a healthy office. The start-up offers a data-driven and people-oriented solution that can provide smart insights to optimise the air quality in real-time.

Clairify has secured a decent client base, including the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm CBRE, the University of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, a Dutch international bank and leading sustainability consulting firm Nexio Projects.

About the founders

Clairify founders have a very diverse background filled with experience and knowledge. Wim Kamerman graduated from the University of Twente with a BSc in Business & IT. While being a student, Wim co-founded SSE Groep, a student employment agency and the freelance invoice app Simpele Facturatie. Next to his studies, Wim was a University Innovation Fellow, trained at Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. Tibor Casteleijn is also a BSc Business & IT alumni at the University of Twente with a minor in Entrepreneurship at the University of Amsterdam. Before his studies at the University of Twente, Tibor graduated with a bachelor of medical imaging and radiation therapy (MIRT) healthcare from the Hanze University of Applied Sciences. From 2013, Tibor was mastering his practical knowledge in medicine and healthcare. The third founder, Felix van den Horst, is no stranger to sustainability. Felix has a BSc in Future Planet Studies with a major in earth sciences and a minor in entrepreneurship at the University of Amsterdam. During his studies, he also did an accounting and business management exchange semester at one of the most well-acclaimed educational institutions of Europe, the Bocconi University. In 2019, TheNextWeb & Accenture accredited Felix as one of the top 500 talents in tech.

The three founders of Clairify took on roles in the start-up, which were most apt in relation to their prior education and skills. Wim is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), who is managing the start-up’s technological plans. Tibor is the Product Developer, responsible for enhancing the start-up’s technology in order to meet the clients’ needs. Moreover, Felix is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who focuses on business development, communications, and fundraising.

The highly motivated Clairify founders are individuals who seek growth on both the personal and start-up levels. In 2020, they became alumni of the prestigious Plug And Play Tech Center Accelerator Program 2020 (winter batch) from Silicon Valley, USA. Plug and Play Tech Center is famous for having portfolio companies such as Dropbox and PayPal. In 2019, start-up scouts selected Clairify to take part in the world’s largest technology event, the WebSummit, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Inspiration behind the idea

The idea started while Tibor was doing his bachelor project to look at the impact of cleaning on air quality. This resulted in a genuine curiosity to look deeper into air quality and its implications for people’s health and performance. The following semester, he met Felix in the Minor Entrepreneurship at the University of Amsterdam, where he shared his insights. As a result, Felix remembered the time he spent during his first and second year in one particular lecture room where people fell asleep during lectures, attendance rates dropped, and as a result, they performed poorly at their tests. The following year, the university installed a ventilation system. An instant change was visible in the student interaction and performance on the exam: people paid more attention to the lectures, a higher attendance rate, and there were fewer people taking resits. The cause? Improved indoor air quality. This led to the belief that bad indoor air quality is a problem in many buildings where people need to focus, such as offices, governmental buildings and schools.

“Clairify makes an invisible problem visible with the development of smart IoT sensors and software to provide the right insights into the effects of indoor air quality and climate on people. Because good data and insightful analysis of the impact can provide you with the knowledge to act: from improving cleaning practices to steering ventilation based on indoor air pollution,” says Tibor Casteleijn, Co-founder and product developer at Clairify.