Poppy

What Poppy does

Poppy Health, Inc. is a private, venture-backed building science company founded in 2019 by Sam Molyneux and Elizabeth Caley, the original team behind the early AI company Meta (acquired by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2017). The company measures and optimizes outdoor-air ventilation in commercial real estate using its proprietary Real-Time Air Tracing methodology — an on-site aerosol tracer test that releases food-grade saltwater particles via nebulizer and measures their decay rate per zone to compute Equivalent Clean Airflow (ECAi) per ASHRAE Standard 241 Normative Appendix C. Poppy is a primary author of that standard and is led by ASHRAE 62.1 and 241 committee chairs. The newer Direct Ventilation Monitoring (DVM) product adds continuous zone-level outdoor-air intake measurement using outdoor-versus-indoor atmospheric gas concentration cycle differencing, with hourly updates and no BMS or Wi-Fi dependency. Together, the technology stack is supported by 18+ patents and a proprietary dataset of 15,000+ measured locations across 50M+ square feet in 5+ countries.

The company sells a continuous retro-commissioning service branded Poppy Certify (a five-step Select-Assess-Report-Optimize-Maintain cycle) to enterprise commercial building owners and operators, alongside the DVM continuous monitoring module and a customer dashboard. Go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales (free on-site assessment, no-obligation savings report, multi-year performance contract) supplemented by a channel program with global property operators (JLL, Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE, BGIS, Colliers, Oxford Properties, Spinoso) and engineering, commissioning, and controls partners. Revenue is primarily outcome-based: Poppy shares in verified utility-bill savings (typically 10-30% HVAC bill reduction, verified to IPMVP Option B) with no upfront cost, complemented by an annual subscription re-testing layer. A second business line — Poppy for Health, anchored on the up-to-$39M ARPA-H BREATHE SCALE federal contract — deploys real-time genetic biosensors for airborne pathogen and allergen detection across 60 U.S. schools with a target 25% reduction in respiratory illness. The company operates through U.S., Canadian, and Qatari (MENA) entities, and was recognized as the #5 Most Innovative Company in the World by Fast Company in 2026.

Name

Poppy

Legal name

Poppy Health, Inc.

Website

https://poppy.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Poppy Health is a private building science company that measures and optimizes ventilation in commercial real estate using patented aerosol tracer testing and continuous zone-level outdoor-air monitoring. It serves enterprise property owners and operators with outcome-based performance contracts, and runs a federal ARPA-H program to detect airborne pathogens in U.S. schools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Building Ventilation Optimization Services

SIC

Air-Cond & Warm Air Heatg Equip & Comm & Indl Refrig Equip (3585)

akta.pro primary industry

Airborne Chemical Exposure Monitoring (VOCs, Solvents, Gases) (EUAHAGAA)

Keywords

• Ventilation optimization services
• HVAC energy efficiency
• Aerosol tracer testing
• Indoor air quality monitoring
• Building retro-commissioning

Headquarters

HQ city

Winter Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Performance-based ventilation optimization contract (shared savings): No upfront cost to qualifying buildings. Poppy tunes outdoor-air rates, schedules and filtration using its aerosol-tracer measurement, then earns a portion of the verified utility-bill savings the customer realizes — typically 10-30% HVAC bill reduction. Savings are verified per IPMVP Option B (weather-normalized baseline vs. actual); customers owe nothing if savings aren't delivered.
2. Ongoing retro-commissioning & re-verification subscription: Recurring annual re-testing at 6, 12 months and every year after, with continuous dashboard monitoring of CO2e reduction, energy savings, and building performance. Drift alerts and free re-adjustments if system changes (retrofit, tenant change, etc.).
3. Federal contract — ARPA-H BREATHE SCALE (up to $39M): Government contract awarded by ARPA-H to develop real-time indoor air hazard detection system targeting schools across four climate zones. Program-level ARPA-H BREATHE funding up to $156 million across multiple awardees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Poppy measures actual clean-air delivery per zone in commercial buildings using proprietary aerosol tracer testing and Direct Ventilation Monitoring (DVM) per ASHRAE Standard 241, then tunes outdoor-air damper setpoints to cut HVAC energy waste by 10–30% on a performance-based, shared-savings contract with no upfront cost to building owners. Through the ARPA-H BREATHE SCALE program, Poppy also deploys a real-time indoor air hazard detection system (genetic biosensors) for U.S. schools, targeting a 25% reduction in respiratory illness.

Product overview

Poppy offers a single integrated product platform for healthy-sustainable building ventilation optimization, anchored on its patented Real-Time Air Tracing measurement technology. The platform combines the Poppy Certify continuous retro-commissioning service (a five-step process: Select, Assess, Report, Optimize, Maintain), the newly introduced Direct Ventilation Monitoring (DVM) technology for zone-level continuous outdoor-air measurement, the Poppy Dashboard (web portal for building performance and verified savings tracking), and the Poppy Testing App used by field engineers. These sit alongside named program offerings and verticals: Poppy for Health / BREATHE SCALE (ARPA-H-funded pathogen detection for schools), Poppy for Partners (operator, engineering, sustainability, and analytics integrations), and Poppy for MENA (Middle East regional delivery). Standards alignment with ASHRAE 62.1, ASHRAE 241, WELL, LEED v5, WiredScore, Fitwel, and IPMVP Option B is built into product measurement, reporting, and verification workflows.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Poppy for Health: Occupant-health-oriented offering for schools and buildings focused on airborne risk, aligned with ARPA-H BREATHE SCALE and ASHRAE 241.
• Poppy for Partners
• Poppy for MENA
• Direct Ventilation Monitoring (DVM)
• Poppy Certify

Products and services

• Poppy Certify Five-step continuous retro-commissioning service (Select, Assess, Report, Optimize, Maintain) using on-site aerosol tracer testing against ASHRAE Standard 241. Targets Class A/B offices, retail/malls, arenas/venues, and university campuses of 100,000+ sq ft with shared-savings pricing.
• Direct Ventilation Monitoring (DVM) Continuous zone-level outdoor-air intake measurement technology that compares outdoor and indoor atmospheric tracer concentration cycles to compute CFM and CFM/SF per zone against ASHRAE 62.1 Table 6-1 targets, with cellular uplink and no BMS dependency.
• ARPA-H BREATHE SCALE Indoor Air Hazard Detection System Federal-program offering for K-12 schools that integrates genetic biosensors and IoT air-quality monitoring to detect airborne allergens, bacteria, viruses, mold and bioaerosols in real time, connected to automated building responses. Targets a 25% reduction in respiratory illness over the 5-year project.
• 241 Toolkit (with CerroZone) Joint product offering combining Poppy's measurement with CerroZone's mitigation technology to help commercial buildings meet ASHRAE Standard 241-2023 clean-air requirements.
• IAQ Test Kit and Training Program (with Ainsworth) Portable IAQ test kit with training and accreditation program for building owners and HVAC teams, rolled out across Canada in partnership with Ainsworth.

Quantifiable outcome

• 10-30% HVAC bill reduction with no upfront cost
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered major, flagship, mid-tier and minor.

• Penn State UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 March 2026Penn State University highlighted its $2.3M role in Poppy's ARPA-H SCALE project, developing amplification-free genetic biosensors to detect airborne pathogens across 40 schools nationwide.
• DraperflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2026Draper joined the SCALE team working on Poppy's ARPA-H BREATHE-funded project to develop a real-time indoor air quality monitoring system for schools. Draper contributes microfluidic pathogen isolation and lysis expertise to the first real-time building-integrated system to detect indoor air hazards.
• University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) — Dr. Josh SantarpiamajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 February 2026UNMC's Josh Santarpia joined Poppy's ARPA-H-funded SCALE effort as a lead investigator, contributing smart-building bioaerosol detection expertise to reduce airborne disease transmission in U.S. schools.
• Primary.HealthflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 January 2026Primary.Health supports Poppy Health, Inc. on the ARPA-H BREATHE-SCALE 5-year project to deploy pathogen-detecting sensors across 60 U.S. schools, with the goal of reducing respiratory illness by 25%. Primary.Health provides diagnostic testing, health management software, and data analytics; Poppy provides pathogen-detecting sensors. Builds on prior school air-quality pilots in California schools (2022 pilot across four schools) and Head Start centers in Oakland (2023 pilot, 13 centers).
• AttunemajorTechnology or Integration · 19 December 2025Attune supports Poppy Health in the ARPA-H BREATHE program (up to $39M contract) by providing IoT sensor-based air quality and energy monitoring technology in U.S. schools. Attune's monitoring devices integrate with Poppy Health's genetically-based sensor technology to develop next-generation indoor air quality standards and improve occupant health.
• CerroZonemid-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 February 2024CerroZone and Poppy forged an alliance and launched their first joint offering — a toolkit that combines Poppy's aerosol tracer measurement with CerroZone's mitigation technology to help buildings meet ASHRAE Standard 241-2023. Announced via Business Wire/P Calgary Herald syndication.
• Ainsworthmid-tierChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 9 November 2023Poppy partnered with Ainsworth to roll out its IAQ test kit and training/accreditation program for building owners and HVAC teams across Canada.
• JLLflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJLL is a global property management operator and named Poppy customer/partner logo. Poppy works alongside JLL and similar operators to bring verified ventilation optimization to managed portfolios. Listed as a current operator partner on the Partners page.
• CBREflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlobal property operator and current Poppy partner. Poppy supports CBRE-managed portfolios with measurable energy performance and verified ventilation outcomes.
• ColliersmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProperty operator and named Poppy partner logo. Poppy's partner channel serves Colliers-managed buildings with verified ventilation outcomes.
• BGISmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlobal integrated real estate services firm and named Poppy partner logo on both poppy.com homepage and Partners page. Poppy delivers verified ventilation optimization alongside BGIS facility operations.
• Cushman & WakefieldflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlobal property management operator and named Poppy partner logo. Poppy works alongside Cushman & Wakefield to bring verified ventilation optimization to managed commercial portfolios.
• Spinoso Real Estate Groupmid-tierChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorReal estate operator named as a customer/partner logo on Poppy's homepage. Poppy delivers verified ventilation optimization alongside Spinoso-managed properties.
• Oxford PropertiesmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlobal real estate investor/operator named as a customer/partner logo on Poppy's homepage. Poppy delivers verified ventilation optimization across Oxford Properties' managed commercial portfolio.
• BreatheEasyTOminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBreatheEasyTO program measured the indoor air safety of 100+ public spaces in Toronto using technology tied to Poppy. Poppy supported COVID-19 detection coverage in Toronto.
• Empire CommunitiesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEmpire Communities became the first residential builder in North America to achieve ASHRAE 241 clean-air requirements, with Poppy referenced in coverage of the achievement.
• SafeTracesmid-tierStrategic or Co-development PartnerSafeTraces is identified alongside Poppy as one of multiple teams building different airborne-pathogen detection technologies as part of ARPA-H's BREATHE program ($150M federal program). Both companies are working on sensors/software to detect airborne pathogens in buildings.
• ARPA-H (BREATHE program)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerARPA-H's BREATHE program is a $150M federal initiative (program-wide funding up to $156M) creating 'an immune system for every building.' Poppy is a named BREATHE awardee via its SCALE project ($39M contract). Real-world testing planned in hospitals and day care centers in California, Michigan, North Carolina, and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center by 2028.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Carbon Lighthouse: Carbon Lighthouse delivers building energy and carbon optimization with a no-upfront-cost, outcome-based model similar to Poppy Certify, targeting commercial real estate portfolios with measured and verified savings.
• BuildingIQ: BuildingIQ is a cloud-based HVAC optimization platform for commercial buildings that continuously tunes outdoor-air and equipment setpoints to reduce energy use, overlapping directly with Poppy's ventilation optimization proposition.
• BrainBox AI: BrainBox AI applies AI to HVAC control in commercial buildings, automatically optimizing setpoints to cut energy costs — a software-only competitor to Poppy's measurement-and-tuning service.
• 75F: 75F provides smart HVAC controls and zoning solutions for commercial buildings, addressing outdoor-air and comfort optimization that overlaps with Poppy Certify's scope.

Emerging players

• Enverid: Enverid sells indoor air quality hardware and clean-air technology for commercial buildings, addressing over-ventilation from the equipment-mitigation side rather than the measurement-and-tuning side Poppy occupies.
• Kaiterra: Kaiterra provides indoor air quality monitoring sensors and enterprise dashboards, adjacent to Poppy's DVM continuous monitoring product but without the aerosol tracer testing service.
• SafeTraces: SafeTraces is a fellow ARPA-H BREATHE awardee developing airborne-pathogen detection technology for indoor spaces, directly competing with Poppy's SCALE pathogen detection offering for schools and buildings.

Broad incumbents

• Trane Technologies: Trane Technologies is a global HVAC OEM with a broad commercial building services portfolio that could embed ventilation measurement and optimization capabilities that overlap with Poppy's offer.
• Carrier Global: Carrier is a global HVAC manufacturer and building services provider whose installed controls base could be extended with competing ventilation-measurement and optimization features.
• Johnson Controls: Johnson Controls provides building management systems and HVAC services for large commercial portfolios, with capabilities adjacent to Poppy's continuous retro-commissioning and ventilation tuning service.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/poppyhealth
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/poppy-health
• Instagraminstagram.com/poppyhealth
• TikToktiktok.com/@poppyhealth
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@poppyhealth
• Xx.com/poppy_health

Compliance10 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Poppy