Soofa
Soofa (Changing Environments, Inc.) operates solar-powered E-Ink digital kiosks in 85+ U.S. cities, delivering hyperlocal outdoor advertising to brands and smart city communication tools to municipalities and universities. Founded in 2014 from MIT Media Lab.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersCambridge, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Soofa does
Soofa (legal entity Changing Environments, Inc.) is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company founded in 2014 by Sandra Richter and Jutta Friedrichs out of MIT Media Lab and Harvard. The company designs, manufactures, and operates solar-powered digital kiosks branded as "Soofa Signs," built on E-Ink display technology with 5G connectivity that enables off-grid deployment in pedestrian zones without electrical infrastructure. As of the input data, Soofa has installed approximately 91 signs across 85+ U.S. cities covering Northeast, Southeast, West Coast, Mountain West, and Midwest regions, with strategic placements in high-traffic locations such as Boston's Seaport district and the Longwood Medical and Academic Area. The product portfolio includes the core Soofa Sign, customizable widgets (transit, air quality, wayfinding, polling, Facebook integration), the Soofa Talk content management platform, the Pedestrian Trend Tracker analytics tool, sensor-equipped Soofa Pro units, the new ZerOOH 75-inch full-color zero-carbon kiosk (launching Q3 2025), and the Book Now self-serve ad booking platform introduced in May 2025.
The business model is dual-sided. On the city/municipal side, Soofa sells subscription-style smart city communication services — community messaging, PSAs, wayfinding, real-time transit and air quality information — to landowners and city governments. On the advertiser side, the company sells hyperlocal outdoor advertising inventory targeting pedestrians in walkable neighborhoods through direct enterprise field sales, the Book Now self-serve platform, and channel partnerships such as the InSite Street Media relationship for Atlanta. Revenue mechanics therefore combine advertising sales, recurring smart city service contracts, and (prospectively) ZerOOH hardware sales. Pricing is not publicly disclosed but is structured as pay-as-you-go for the self-serve tier and presumably multi-year contracts for city deployments.
Go-to-market combines an enterprise field sales motion for municipal and major brand customers, a product-led self-serve motion for SMB advertisers, and an event-driven motion across industry conferences (DPAA Global Summit, Smart City Expo USA, Grocery Shop, Main Street Now, AAMA). Soofa is privately held, women-owned, and has raised approximately $3.2M in disclosed funding through a 2017 Series A and an undisclosed 2022 investment, alongside earlier seed and non-dilutive support from MIT Media Lab and the E14 Fund.
Soofa firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Soofa
- Legal name
- Changing Environments, Inc.
- Website
- https://soofadigital.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Soofa (Changing Environments, Inc.) operates solar-powered E-Ink digital kiosks in 85+ U.S. cities, delivering hyperlocal outdoor advertising to brands and smart city communication tools to municipalities and universities. Founded in 2014 from MIT Media Lab.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Soofa industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Out-of-Home Advertising
- NAICS
- Indoor and Outdoor Display Advertising (54185)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) Screens & Networks (BPAFALAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) Advertising (MPAAAKAB), Out-of-Home (OOH), DOOH & Ambient Advertising (BPAFAAAI)
Keywords
Where Soofa is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cambridge
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Soofa business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Advertising Sales: Digital out-of-home advertising sold to brands and businesses for display on Soofa Signs in high-traffic urban locations. Advertisers can target specific demographics and geographies with measurable campaign results.
- Smart City Communication Services: Solar-powered digital kiosks marketed to cities and municipalities for community messaging, PSAs, wayfinding, and public information distribution.
- ZerOOH Product Sales: Next-generation ZerOOH 75-inch full-color zero-carbon kiosks available for reservation (Q3 2025), representing new product line expansion.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Book Now Self-Serve Platform - Quick campaign option for brands and small businesses |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
Soofa product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Soofa designs, manufactures, deploys, and operates solar-powered digital kiosks ("Soofa Signs") with E-Ink displays and 5G connectivity installed in high-traffic pedestrian locations across 85+ U.S. cities. The company sells digital out-of-home advertising on these signs to brands and advertisers, and offers smart city communication infrastructure (real-time messaging, wayfinding, transit updates, air quality, polling) to cities, municipalities, educational institutions, and community organizations. The Book Now self-serve platform supports SMB advertisers, while the new ZerOOH 75-inch full-color zero-carbon kiosk expands the product line in 2025.
Product overview
Soofa offers a smart city communication platform centered on solar-powered digital kiosks (Soofa Signs) deployed across U.S. cities for outdoor advertising and community messaging. The core Soofa Sign product features E-Ink display technology powered by solar panels, supporting customizable widgets for transit information, wayfinding maps, air quality data, Facebook integration, and polling. The platform is managed through Soofa Talk, an online platform enabling cities and advertisers to customize campaigns and access real-time results. A self-serve booking tool (Book Now) allows brands to quickly purchase hyperlocal advertising, while the Pedestrian Trend Tracker and Soofa Pro sensors provide foot traffic analytics. The ZerOOH™ product line represents Soofa's next-generation 75-inch full-color zero-carbon kiosks launching in Q3 2025.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ZerOOH: World's first 75-inch full-color zero-carbon street kiosk launched in 2025.
Products and services
- Soofa Sign Solar-powered digital communication kiosk (E-Ink display, 5G connectivity, off-grid operation) deployed in cities for outdoor advertising and city messaging, featuring real-time content updates, hyperlocal demographic and geographic targeting for advertisers, and community information sharing (transit, wayfinding, air quality, events) for landowners.
- ZerOOH Smart Street Kiosk World's first 75-inch full-color zero-carbon street kiosk with 75% energy savings compared to traditional digital signage; represents Soofa's next-generation smart city communication hardware available for reservation starting Q3 2025.
- Soofa Talk Platform Online platform for cities, municipalities, landowners, and advertisers to customize advertising campaigns, manage content, access real-time results, control widgets, and customize display of community information on Soofa Signs.
- Book Now Self-Serve Advertising Platform Self-serve online platform enabling brands and small businesses to quickly build and purchase custom digital advertising campaigns on Soofa Signs with reduced cost and without major commitment, using pay-as-you-go billing.
- Soofa Pro Sensor System Advanced sensor-based data collection system (Bench Pro and Core Pro) for measuring pedestrian activity, tracking foot traffic, and providing insights for city planning, public WiFi investment justification, and urban development decisions.
- Soofa Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Hyperlocal digital out-of-home advertising service sold to brands, national advertisers, local businesses, and organizations for display on Soofa Signs in exclusive city locations with demographic and geographic targeting and best-in-class campaign measurement.
Quantifiable outcome
- 75% energy savings compared to traditional digital signage
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Soofa
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Soofa technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature8 records
Soofa partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- InSite Street MediacoreStrategic partnership to offer advertising on Soofa's assets in Atlanta, GA. InSite Street Media is a leader in street-level media and college campus signage, expanding Soofa's reach in key markets through their established distribution relationships.
- Boston Environment DepartmentcorePartnership to develop and release air quality widget providing Boston residents with timely updates about air quality conditions and recommendations for outdoor activity based on current conditions.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Soofa competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Intersection: Direct competitor in smart-city DOOH; operates LinkNYC and similar connected kiosk networks that monetize pedestrian attention via digital advertising, transit, and wayfinding in walkable urban locations.
- IKE Smart City: Competes head-to-head with Soofa in solar-powered, smart-city digital kiosks sold to municipalities for community messaging, wayfinding, and advertising. Closely aligned in target customer (cities), product form factor, and revenue model.
- AdQuick: Self-serve OOH advertising marketplace enabling SMB and brand buyers to plan and purchase outdoor campaigns across multiple networks. Comparable to Soofa's Book Now PLG motion and similar SMB advertiser focus.
- Adomni: Programmatic DOOH platform that lets advertisers buy digital billboard and screen inventory in real time. Overlaps with Soofa's hyperlocal, measurement-driven DOOH positioning and SMB advertiser self-serve approach.
- CIVIQ Smartscapes: Provider of connected street infrastructure including smart kiosks, public Wi-Fi, and small-cell poles for cities. Comparable product/customer profile and similar municipal sales motion to Soofa's city platform.
Broad incumbents
- JCDecaux: Global leader in street furniture and DOOH advertising, with major municipal concessions. Overlaps with Soofa's city messaging and DOOH business, but operates at vastly greater scale and as a multi-format incumbent.
- Outfront Media: Large U.S. out-of-home advertising operator spanning transit, billboards, and DOOH. Competes with Soofa for advertiser budgets and urban ad placements but at much greater scale and broader format mix.
- Lamar Advertising: One of the largest U.S. outdoor advertising companies with a national static and digital billboard footprint. Provides a comparable advertising inventory pool but is a much larger, diversified incumbent.
- Clear Channel Outdoor: Global OOH operator with a substantial DOOH portfolio, including airports, transit, and street furniture. Comparable advertiser offering to Soofa, but a much larger incumbent across multiple formats and geographies.
Regional players
- Stroer SE & Co. KGaA: Major European-based DOOH and street-furniture operator with growing U.S. presence. Comparable in product mix and city-partnership model, but primarily serves a different geographic market.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Soofa social profiles
Digital presenceSoofa financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Soofa leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Soofa funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors10 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Soofa M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Soofa
What does Soofa do?
Soofa designs, manufactures, deploys, and operates solar-powered digital kiosks ("Soofa Signs") with E-Ink displays and 5G connectivity installed in high-traffic pedestrian locations across 85+ U.S. cities. The company sells digital out-of-home advertising on these signs to brands and advertisers, and offers smart city communication infrastructure (real-time messaging, wayfinding, transit updates, air quality, polling) to cities, municipalities, educational institutions, and community organizations. The Book Now self-serve platform supports SMB advertisers, while the new ZerOOH 75-inch full-color zero-carbon kiosk expands the product line in 2025.
Is Soofa a public or private company?
Soofa is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Soofa founded?
Soofa was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Soofa based?
Soofa is headquartered in Cambridge, United States, in the North America region.
How does Soofa make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Advertising Sales are the primary driver. The others are smart City Communication Services and zerOOH Product Sales.
Who are Soofa's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Intersection, IKE Smart City, AdQuick, Adomni and CIVIQ Smartscapes. Broad incumbents are JCDecaux, Outfront Media, Lamar Advertising and Clear Channel Outdoor. Stroer SE & Co. KGaA is listed as a regional player.
Does Soofa have an API?
No public API is recorded for Soofa.
What industry is Soofa in?
Soofa's product category is Digital Out-of-Home Advertising. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFALAB, Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) Screens & Networks, with a secondary code of MPAAAKAB, Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) Advertising. Its NAICS code is 54185 and its SIC code is 7311.