All WIB solutions have a common goal: to improve people’s experience in different spaces (living, working, leisure, etc.) through the use of technology.

Some examples are the use of Parcel Locker in coworking spaces but also in condominiums or university residences, the management through Smart Locker of company devices (asset management in the company), the company canteen “4.0” (or smart canteen) thanks to the refrigerated Food Locker, and much more.

At the center of our attention, the ultimate goal that drives us to constantly improve, there is the daily life of people and – consequently – the needs, the necessities, and the satisfaction of those who live in certain spaces.

This attention leads us to collaborate with pleasure with those who share the same attentions and are committed to offering people greater freedom, security and flexibility through the innovative use of technology.

This is the case of Sofia Locks, an innovative startup that creates intelligent access control technologies as well as a leading Italian company in the PropTech world, with which from May 2021 we have started a collaboration that sees us as protagonists, together, in improving the user experience (above all) of shared spaces (such as coliving and coworking).

To help us tell what Sofia Locks does and how it collaborates with us at WIB, we interviewed its CEO – Alessandro Nacci – whom we thank for the time he dedicated to us!

Hi Alessandro, can you introduce yourself for those of us reading this?

I co-founded Sofia Locks in 2015, after a PhD in Computer Science dedicated specifically to smart building technologies. My background is as a software engineer, with a great passion for digital products and especially for entrepreneurship.

I helped found my family’s small business when I was 18, and I co-founded two other companies, one in California, no longer active, and one in Italy – Bottega52 – a company that develops digital products for large multinational groups.

How was Sofia Locks born?

Thanks to my PhD in the world of smart buildings between Italy and the United States, and thanks to the entrepreneurial skills acquired in my previous path, but above all, thanks to the contribution of all the co-founders who brought their individual sensibilities to the project, it was possible to identify which were the most interesting sectors to innovate a sector – that of real-estate – that for its internal dynamics tends to be quite static.

After a few adjustments to the strategy, we found in the Internet Of Things applied to locks the possibility to create a new digital product, bringing great elements of innovation to the access control market.

As Sofia Locks we are now a European player with one of the most advanced access control technologies, both from a technological point of view and in terms of market approach.

What does Sofia Locks do?

In Sofia Locks we provide smart access control solutions for the world of flex workspace, flex living and flex retail.

This kind of solutions leverages on cloud native technologies, IoT and wireless protocols, paying the utmost attention to Cyber Security, to offer a system easily installable, modifiable, and integrable in third party software.

For example, the solution is ideal for flexible workspaces, such as coworking and pro-working spaces, or for smart working solutions in corporate companies: through our app it is in fact possible to access the building by opening the doors directly from the smartphone, after booking a desk or a meeting room.

In the residential world, instead, we become an enabling factor for the new models of social housing, co-living and co-housing, making easier the management of any guests of the structure or employees, thanks to the high level of integrability of the system.

How did the collaboration with WIB start?

We got in touch thanks to Polihub, the accelerator of the Polytechnic of Milan: I met Alfonso Correale, the CEO of WIB in a few days and we immediately understood that there was a great synergy between the two companies.

Also the approach to the market and the culture of our companies are very similar, and this allowed us to have an excellent ground on which to develop the collaboration.

How does Sofia Locks collaborate with WIB?

Sofia Locks acts as a one-stop shop for physical access control issues for its customers.

Integrating WIB and reselling the solution to our customers enables us to provide a 360° access control solution, being able to manage from a single app and a single portal driveways, gates, electrified and non-electrified doors, premises, etc.

In this way, Sofia Locks users will be able to access the compartment to pick up their packages from the same app they use to access the building, as well as receive notifications about the status of their shipments in real time.

What are the end-user benefits of WIB smart lockers combined with Sofia Locks’ technology?

If we are talking about the owner or manager of the building, the obvious advantage is to have a single point of contact to manage everything related to “electronic locks” and access to spaces, being able to design in an integrated way the issues related to the physical security of environments and compartments for logistics.

Having a single interlocutor means simplifying the process of design, delivery and subsequent management. For the end user, instead, it means having access to a unified user experience, a single access point for all services offered by the physical spaces of the building.

Thanks again to Alessandro for answering all our questions!

Those who want to know even better Sofia Locks and its solutions can visit the website that explains the functionality and technology of this reality.

We, instead, leave you with the section of our website dedicated to Smart Lockers to learn more about features, software, use cases and benefits of this solution.

As always, contact us if any information or support are needed!