Roast
Roast is a workplace comfort survey SaaS that helps building owners, facility managers, and HR professionals map occupant feedback onto floorplans to assess and improve indoor environmental conditions across seven dimensions.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersPhiladelphia, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Roast does
Roast is a workplace comfort survey SaaS application operated by KT Innovations, an affiliate of Philadelphia-based architecture firm KieranTimberlake. Founded in 2019 and commercially launched on December 17, 2019, the platform serves building owners, facility managers, and HR professionals by enabling them to assess, manage, and improve indoor environmental conditions across seven comfort dimensions: temperature, humidity, ventilation, ambient light, noise levels, air freshness, and cleanliness. The product originated from an internal experiment at KieranTimberlake's 100-person office in a converted beer bottling plant, where the firm's architects and building scientists developed the tool to resolve chronic 'too-hot, too-cold' complaints and inform HVAC and building-system adjustments.
The core product is a web-based survey application that maps participant responses onto uploaded floorplans (JPG, SVG, PNG, or DXF formats), producing spatially explicit comfort data tied to zones, dates, and times. Surveys are pre-populated with questions influenced by ASHRAE 55 and other industry standards, phrased in approachable sensory language rather than technical jargon, and incorporate the Bedford scale plus CLO (clothing thermal insulation) value collection. Results can be filtered, visualized as graphs or floorplan overlays, and exported as CSV files. The platform supports LEED v4 (BD+C, ID+C, O&M, plus legacy 2009 variants) and WELL Building Standard Feature 86 certification workflows, automatically calculating response rates required for credit documentation. It is fully compatible across iOS and Android browsers.
Roast generates revenue through annual subscription SaaS plans billed via invoice: a free Trial tier, Starter at $1,000/year (up to 3 projects), Professional at $2,000/year (up to 10 projects), and a quote-based Custom enterprise tier with unlimited scale and dedicated Project Support. Distribution combines a product-led growth motion (self-serve 14-day free trial at roastsurvey.com) with sales-assisted enterprise quotes via a contact form. A free educational access program extends the product to accredited academic institutions for non-funded research. The platform has earned coverage in The New York Times, Architect Magazine, Fast Company, and Archinect, and is headquartered at 841 North American Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123.
Roast firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Roast
- Legal name
- KT Innovations
- Website
- https://roastsurvey.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Roast is a workplace comfort survey SaaS that helps building owners, facility managers, and HR professionals map occupant feedback onto floorplans to assess and improve indoor environmental conditions across seven dimensions.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Roast is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Philadelphia
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Roast business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription-based SaaS (Starter, Professional, Custom tiers): Roast generates revenue through annual subscription plans billed via invoice. Four tiers exist: Trial (free with limited features), Starter ($1,000/year), Professional ($2,000/year), and Custom (unlimited, quote-based). Billing is handled via invoice with payment via check or electronic bank transfer.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Trial — Free, limited plan for evaluation |
| Subscription | Annual | Starter — $83/month billed annually ($1,000/year) |
| Subscription | Annual | Professional — $166/month billed annually ($2,000/year) |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Custom — Quote-based, unlimited scale |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Roast product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Roast is a workplace comfort survey SaaS application that enables building owners, facility managers, and HR professionals to assess, manage, and improve occupant comfort inside the workplace. Users build surveys from pre-populated ASHRAE 55-influenced questions covering seven dimensions of indoor comfort (temperature, humidity, ventilation, ambient light, noise, air freshness, cleanliness), map responses onto uploaded floorplans (JPG, SVG, PNG, DXF) to generate spatially explicit data, and visualize results to identify comfort trends and make targeted improvements. The product supports LEED and WELL certification tracking and is sold via annual subscription tiers (Trial, Starter, Professional, Custom).
Product overview
Roast is a single, unified workplace comfort survey SaaS application. The core product enables users to create surveys from pre-populated questions covering seven dimensions of indoor comfort (temperature, humidity, ventilation, ambient light, noise levels, air freshness, and cleanliness), upload floorplans to map responses spatially, and analyze results within the app. The platform supports three user roles (Owner, Administrator, Participant), allows manual or scheduled survey distribution, and produces downloadable results in CSV and SVG formats. It is available via subscription at three tiers (Trial, Starter at $83/month, Professional at $166/month) plus a Custom enterprise tier.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Roast Roast is a workplace comfort survey SaaS application that enables building owners, facility managers, and HR professionals to assess, manage, and improve occupant comfort inside the workplace. The platform allows users to create custom surveys from a curated list of questions influenced by ASHRAE 55 and other industry standards, map responses onto floorplans (JPG, SVG, PNG, DXF) to generate spatially explicit data, and visualize results to identify comfort trends and make targeted improvements. It supports LEED v4 and WELL Building Standard Feature 86 certification tracking and is available via annual subscription tiers (Trial, Starter, Professional, Custom).
Quantifiable outcome
- Roast has been proven to increase employee focus, activity, and cognitive function by as much as 44%
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Roast
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Roast technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature8 records
Roast partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- KieranTimberlakecoreKieranTimberlake is a Philadelphia-based architecture firm that developed Roast through its affiliate KT Innovations. The architects and researchers at KieranTimberlake initially developed Roast as an internal experiment for their own 1940s industrial office, then developed it into a commercial product. KieranTimberlake shares aggregated anonymous data with Roast (total sales and total users) to inform business decisions. The firm also serves as a reference customer and use case (Ortlieb's Bottling House conversion).
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Roast competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- SpaceIQ: SpaceIQ (formerly iOffice) is a workplace and facility management platform covering space utilization, employee experience, and move management. It overlaps with Roast's facility-manager and HR buyer segments, though its focus is broader workplace operations rather than comfort surveys.
- Qualtrics: Qualtrics is an enterprise experience-management platform covering employee, customer, and product experience. It could replicate Roast's employee comfort surveys with deeper HRIS/analytics integration, posing a substitution threat to HR buyers.
- Planon: Planon is an integrated workplace management system (IWMS) used by facility managers for building operations, maintenance, and occupant services. It competes for the same facility-manager buyer and could subsume comfort-survey use cases over time.
- SurveyMonkey: SurveyMonkey is a general-purpose online survey platform used by businesses of all sizes. It competes with Roast on basic survey creation and distribution, though it lacks ASHRAE-specific content and floorplan mapping.
Emerging players
- Enverid: Enverid provides indoor air quality solutions, including fresh-air delivery and HLR (Healthy Building) modules. It is comparable to Roast as both serve the building-performance and occupant-wellness buyer segments.
- Awair: Awair makes indoor air quality and environmental monitoring hardware with a companion app. It is comparable to Roast because both address occupant comfort, though Awair focuses on sensor-driven data while Roast focuses on survey-driven subjective feedback.
- Buildings IOT: Buildings IOT is a smart-building software and integration vendor for facility operators. It overlaps with Roast on the facility-manager buyer and the broader building-performance agenda.
- Willow: Willow is a smart-building and digital-twin platform for facility owners and operators. It is comparable to Roast as both serve facility managers seeking building-performance insights, though Willow is sensor- and BIM-driven while Roast is survey-driven.
Direct peers
- Comfy (Siemens): Comfy is a workplace experience and occupant comfort app (acquired by Siemens in 2018) that lets employees adjust temperature, lighting, and find spaces. It directly competes with Roast in addressing occupant comfort, though it leans more on IoT controls than survey-based feedback.
Others
- Measurabl: Measurabl is a SaaS platform for ESG and sustainability management across real estate portfolios. It is thematically adjacent to Roast as both support LEED/WELL reporting and building-performance workflows, though Measurabl focuses on utility/ESG data while Roast focuses on occupant feedback.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Roast social profiles
Digital presenceRoast compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Roast financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Roast leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Roast funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Roast 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 Roast
What does Roast do?
Roast is a workplace comfort survey SaaS application that enables building owners, facility managers, and HR professionals to assess, manage, and improve occupant comfort inside the workplace. Users build surveys from pre-populated ASHRAE 55-influenced questions covering seven dimensions of indoor comfort (temperature, humidity, ventilation, ambient light, noise, air freshness, cleanliness), map responses onto uploaded floorplans (JPG, SVG, PNG, DXF) to generate spatially explicit data, and visualize results to identify comfort trends and make targeted improvements. The product supports LEED and WELL certification tracking and is sold via annual subscription tiers (Trial, Starter, Professional, Custom).
Is Roast a public or private company?
Roast is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Roast founded?
Roast was founded in 2019. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Roast based?
Roast is headquartered in Philadelphia, United States, in the North America region.
How does Roast make money?
One revenue line is on record: subscription-based SaaS (Starter, Professional, Custom tiers).
Who are Roast's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are SpaceIQ, Qualtrics, Planon and SurveyMonkey. Emerging players are Enverid, Awair, Buildings IOT and Willow. Comfy (Siemens) is listed as a direct peer. Measurabl is listed as an others.
Does Roast have an API?
No public API is recorded for Roast.