Low-cost Sensors Combined With a Smart Data Platform Automatically Analysing the Gathered Data

Breeze Technologies is a technology leader for air quality sensors, air quality data and clean air action intelligence. We leverage the internet of things and artificial intelligence to help cities and businesses create better clean air action plans and a more liveable environment.

Tell us about yourself?

In winter 2014, I experienced real air pollution for the first time. Back then, I was living and working in Istanbul – and during some days of my stay there, due to the heavy smog, I could barely see the other side of the street anymore! Working in IT and strategy consulting, I dug deeper into available datasets, but there was also a lack of data.

Soon a picture became clear: Today’s decision makers do not have enough data to both track air quality extensively enough, as well as to judge the effectiveness and efficiency of mitigation strategies. The idea for Breeze Technologies was born: low-cost sensors combined with a smart data platform automatically analysing the gathered data.

I think it really helps me to have a background in both technical and business skills. That was also what made me realize that we could bring air quality monitoring and management into the 21st century, with IoT-enabled sensors and an artificial intelligence-based cloud software.

What is the inspiration behind your business?

Air pollution is the single biggest environmental health threat of our time, but data-driven decision making remains unfeasible due to the lack of data. Breeze Technologies provides hyperlocal comprehensive air quality data and AI-based decision support for clean air actions, potentially raising the efficiency and effectiveness of clean air action plans by 10X.

We mainly work with cities that want to create a healthier environment for their citizens, and businesses that see better air quality as part of their sustainability commitment to the public.

What is your magic sauce?

We moved all the complexity of air quality monitoring from the monitoring devices – our air quality sensors – into our Environmental Intelligence Cloud. Here, we use artificial intelligence to calibrate sensor in real-time; greatly increasing sensor accuracy and reliability.

Additionally, we also use AI to matchmake air pollution challenges that we identify with a growing catalogue of more than 3,500 clean air actions. This way, we do not only help our customers to monitor their air quality, but also to actively improve it as necessary.

Where do you see your company going in 5 years time?

We believe that distributed networks of small-scale environmental sensors can enable a fully-new approach to understand our environment. We are the first company to facilitate the full lifecycle of environmental analytics: with our own air quality sensors, a cloud platform for data assessment and action implementation and a partner network able to conduct the necessary interventions to sustainably improve indoor and outdoor air quality.

Based on this data, we will enable a completely new host of applications and business models based on environmental data. To give you one example: Imagine you want to go running in a densely populated area. Asthmatics in particular are affected by high levels of air pollution, they might even trigger an asthma attack. Based on hyperlocal air quality data and forecasts, a sports app would be able to recommend you the healthiest – that is, the least polluted – running route based on your current position. There are other application scenarios, from real estate and insurance over tourism to traffic management and urban planning processes.

What is the next big challenge for your business?

Gathering a holistic picture of air quality for the first time might identify problems that the city or corporate has not been aware of before. However, an increasing number of building standards, increasing regulation and pressure from the European Commission on governments makes corporate management and public officials overthink their approach and be more open for radically innovative approaches. Since Breeze Technologies also offers tailored recommendations from a machine-learning based solution database containing more than 3,500 possible interventions, the solution is now very attractive to our target audience.

How do people get involved/buy into your vision?

We are looking for companies active in the fields of smart cities, smart industry and smart buildings that are developing horizontal platform solutions – for instance dashboards – and would like to enable their services with air quality data. We are happy to partner up and add air quality monitoring and management capabilities to their solutions.

Additionally, we are always on the lookout for companies that have solutions that actively improve air quality – indoor or outdoors, locally or on a more regional level. We run a partner program for such companies, and are happy to recommend their solutions to suitable customers from our side.