Amy Yin anticipates that startups will not return to a traditional five-day-a-week in-office work arrangement, even following the subsiding of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This prediction appears well-founded. Numerous organizations have discovered throughout the past year that employee productivity remains consistent when working remotely. Furthermore, employees—while potentially missing their dedicated workspaces—are increasingly disinclined to spend all their time in a conventional office setting. A recent survey of 2,300 technology professionals, conducted during the summer months, revealed that only 7% of respondents expressed a desire to return to the office on a daily basis.

Yin directly observed this transition to remote work during her time as a senior engineer at Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange that promptly implemented a work-from-home policy as the pandemic emerged in the United States. Experiencing remote work for the first time in her career—having previously held software engineering positions at Hired and a growth engineering role at Facebook—she appreciated the autonomy of managing her own schedule and the resulting flexibility.

By August, she determined she could assist Coinbase—and the expanding number of businesses adopting a remote-first organizational model—by establishing OfficeTogether, her current San Francisco-based software-as-a-service company, now five months old.

The company’s core offering is straightforward. Through software that integrates with platforms like Slack, Google Calendar, and Okta (with Workday integration planned), OfficeTogether enables employees to schedule office visits, view their colleagues’ schedules, and complete an automated health and symptom check to confirm they are free of fever and have not traveled recently.

The primary goal is to prevent employees from arriving at a fully occupied office or disrupting meetings requiring focused work.

Yin reports that the company has already secured annual contracts with clients in the United States, Europe, and Canada, but declined to disclose specific pricing details during a recent conversation. She clarified that OfficeTogether does not directly compete on price with other workplace management solutions, such as those offered by SpaceIQ and OfficeSpace.

Instead, she explains that while competitors prioritize workspace utilization and occupancy data for capacity planning, OfficeTogether centers its approach on the employee experience. Consequently, it is not tied to a specific physical location but rather focuses on facilitating team collaboration whenever and wherever desired, whether at a co-working space or a hotel.

“Eventually,” she suggests, “some companies may find it more cost-effective to reserve hotel rooms rather than maintain expensive office leases.” She believes that “versatile spaces for meetings will become a crucial component of every company’s strategy. If in-person meetings occur only once a month for a week,” she notes, a smaller footprint may suffice.

Investors appear to share this perspective. A growing number of startups are receiving funding to transform various locations into functional workspaces. One example is Codi, a San Francisco-based startup that connects individuals with daytime workspaces in private residences, and recently announced $7 million in funding.

Meanwhile, OfficeTogether—led by Yin, a designer based in San Francisco, and a team of engineers in Romania—has secured its first institutional investment: a $2.2 million seed round. Defy led the round, with participation from Neo, MGV, and January Ventures, as well as several angel investors connected to Yin through Coinbase, Harvard University, or other professional networks.

Among these angel investors is Amy Sun, a former partner at Sequoia, who is currently launching her own startup in Austin, Texas. Yin commented on Sun and other investors, stating: “Many of my friends are starting companies, and it’s rewarding to have the support of fellow entrepreneurs” in her own venture. “We are all mutually investing in each other’s success.”

Regarding the allocation of the new capital, Yin states that it will be primarily used to expand the engineering team. Concerning potential marketing expenditures to promote OfficeTogether, Yin emphasizes a focus on “enterprise B2B sales—establishing a sales process and ensuring the appropriate individuals are informed.”

When asked if she has a dedicated salesperson, she responds with a laugh, stating, “I am currently handling sales personally.”

You can learn more about the company here.