respire

What respire does

Respire is a Delft, Netherlands-based company that maps urban air pollution through an end-to-end integrated hardware and software solution. Its core offering consists of three components: (1) a miniaturized IoT device equipped with particulate matter and gas sensors (PM 2.5, PM 10, CO, NO, O3) designed to attach to moving infrastructure such as bicycles and public transport for real-time street-level air quality readings; (2) a customized deployment algorithm that determines the optimal number and placement of sensors for each street within a target area; and (3) a neural network forecasting model that processes collected sensor data to predict air quality and identify pollution sources. Together, these products aim to make invisible street-level pollution visible and actionable.

The business model targets three customer segments: municipalities and townships pursuing clean-city initiatives and pollution policy implementation; communities seeking to track and understand local air pollution for advocacy purposes; and institutions or companies looking to improve outdoor air quality on their campuses for employee health. Go-to-market relies on direct enterprise sales and community partnerships with no publicly disclosed pricing; the company participates in competitions and academic programs (Climate Launchpad, Philips Innovation Award, TU Delft Impact Contest) as a credibility-building channel. Respire is founder-led by CEO Akshit, a TU Delft double masters graduate in Embedded Systems and Computer Science, with Tao as Design Head; total disclosed capital is approximately EUR 12,600, comprising a EUR 5,000 grant from TU Delft Global Initiative plus ~EUR 7,600 in competition winnings. The company expanded operations to Kumasi, Ghana in July 2022 in collaboration with KNUST and TU Delft Global Initiative for adverse-condition field testing, and launched a second modular prototype in August 2022. No paying customers or commercial revenue have been disclosed.

Name

respire

Legal name

Respire

Website

https://letsrespire.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Respire maps urban air pollution through IoT sensors and AI forecasting, serving municipalities, communities, and institutions seeking real-time street-level air quality data and pollution source identification for clean-city and health initiatives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Air Quality Monitoring

NAICS

Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (3345), Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing (334519)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)

akta.pro primary industry

Continuous/Remote Monitoring Systems (IoT Sensors, Telemetry, Networks) (EUAHACAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Smart Climate & Air Quality (Thermostats, HVAC, Purifiers, IAQ Sensors) (HSAPAQAD)

Keywords

• Air quality monitoring
• IoT sensors
• Pollution mapping
• Environmental data analytics
• Smart city solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Delft

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Air Quality Monitoring Solutions: Hardware and software solutions sold to municipalities, communities, and institutions for air pollution monitoring. The company provides end-to-end solutions including device deployment, data collection, and analytics insights.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Respire develops and sells an integrated hardware-software air quality monitoring solution. The offering consists of custom-built IoT devices with PM 2.5, PM 10, CO, NO and O3 sensors that can be mounted on bikes and public transport, a proprietary deployment algorithm that optimizes sensor placement across streets, and a neural network forecasting model that predicts air quality and identifies pollution sources. The solution is sold to municipalities, communities, and institutions for real-time, street-level urban pollution mapping.

Product overview

Respire offers an end-to-end software-hardware integration solution for air quality monitoring. The portfolio consists of three core components: (1) Respire IoT Device - a hardware sensor unit that measures particulate matter and gas concentrations; (2) Deployment Algorithm - a mapping system that optimizes sensor placement across geographic areas; and (3) Forecasting Model - a neural network that processes collected data to predict air quality and identify pollution sources. Together, these products enable municipalities, communities, and institutions to proactively monitor and tackle air pollution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Respire IoT Device An IoT air quality monitoring device with particulate matter and gas sensors (PM 2.5, PM 10, CO, NO, O3) that is small enough to attach to moving infrastructure such as bicycles and public transport to capture real-time air quality readings. Sold as part of Respire's integrated monitoring offering to municipalities, institutions, and communities.
• Respire Deployment Algorithm A customized mapping algorithm that identifies the ideal number of custom-built Respire devices for each and every street of the area under consideration, enabling optimized sensor network deployment for clients.
• Respire Forecasting Model A neural network model fed by data collected from Respire devices that generates insights including prediction of air quality and identification of sources of air pollution in the area of interest.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• KNUST (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2022Partnership with KNUST and TU Delft Global Initiative to build and test air quality sensors in adverse conditions of Africa. Respire operated in Kumasi, Ghana to develop and test sensors in real-world African conditions.
• TU Delft Global InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership with TU Delft Global Initiative for air quality sensor development and deployment. Provides both funding support and academic collaboration framework.
• Climate Launchpad 2021minorOthersParticipated in Climate Launchpad 2021 competition. Received valuable feedback on business model and product offering though did not win.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• IQAir: Global leader in air quality monitoring with both consumer-grade and reference-grade outdoor monitors plus an air-quality data platform. Comparable to Respire in measuring PM and gases, but operates at vastly larger scale across consumer, commercial, and government segments.
• Aeroqual: Manufactures a wide range of air-quality and gas sensors for both outdoor environmental monitoring and industrial applications. Comparable to Respire in multi-gas/PM sensor hardware, but broader portfolio and more mature customer base.

Direct peers

• PurpleAir: Crowdsourced network of low-cost PM sensors with a public air-quality map. Closely comparable to Respire's hyperlocal outdoor monitoring model, though PurpleAir relies on third-party sensors rather than bespoke hardware and AI forecasting.
• Clarity Movement: Provides air-quality sensor networks and a data platform primarily for municipalities and NGOs. Highly comparable: outdoor PM and gas monitoring sold to government and community customers, with software analytics layered on top of hardware.
• Airly: Deploys air-quality sensor networks for cities worldwide with a data and forecasting platform. Directly comparable to Respire on municipal outdoor air-quality monitoring with software dashboards, but Airly is more established with city-scale deployments.
• BreezoMeter: Provides hyperlocal air-quality data, APIs, and analytics to enterprises, governments, and apps. Comparable to Respire's focus on street-level air-quality insights, though BreezoMeter primarily aggregates third-party data rather than operating its own sensors.

Emerging players

• Plume Labs: Built consumer wearables and data products for personal air-quality exposure. Comparable to Respire on consumer/community-facing air-quality data, though its model has shifted more toward data and partnerships since acquisition by AccuWeather.
• Aeromon: Mobile and fixed air-quality sensor solutions for industrial sites and communities. Comparable to Respire on the idea of mobile/form-factor-flexible sensors delivering hyperlocal air-quality data, with a more industrial-emissions focus.

Others

• Sensirion: Swiss manufacturer of environmental sensors including PM, NOx, and VOC sensors used in air-quality devices. Comparable to Respire on the underlying sensing technology; Sensirion is a potential component supplier or competitor at the OEM level.
• Bosch Sensortec: Manufactures MEMS environmental sensors (e.g., BME680) used in many air-quality devices. Comparable to Respire at the component layer rather than the system layer; a potential supplier and indirect competitor in the sensing market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/letsrespire

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 respire