# Honghao Deng

> Honghao Deng is the CEO and co-founder of Butlr, a San Francisco-based Physical AI company that uses anonymous thermal sensors to understand how spaces are occupied - without cameras or personal data. A Harvard GSD MDes graduate and MIT Media Lab researcher, Deng spun Butlr out of MIT in 2019 alongside co-founder Jiani Zeng. The company has raised over $105M in venture funding, deployed 30,000+ sensors across 22 countries, and processes 1 billion data points daily. Deng is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree (2022), a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, and the inventor of 'Illusory Material' - a multi-material 3D printing breakthrough named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Best Inventions of 2021.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-founder at Butlr
- **Organizations:** Butlr, MIT Media Lab, Harvard Graduate School of Design, World Economic Forum
- **Nationality:** Chinese
- **Education:** Bachelor of Architecture (Algorithmic Design & Robotic Fabrication), Tianjin University, Master of Design Technology (MDes), with Distinction, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
- **Known for:** Forbes 30 Under 30 (2022) - Manufacturing & Industry, World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer (2022), Red Dot Best of the Best Award (2020) - selected from 4,170 entries across 52 countries

## Career timeline

- **2017-2018** — UX Research Scientist at Airbnb
- **2018-2019** — Researcher at MIT Media Lab - City Science Group
- **2019** — Co-founded Butlr with Jiani Zeng as MIT Media Lab spinout
- **2020** — Co-invented 'Illusory Material' - won Red Dot Best of the Best; named Fast Company's Best Experimental Design Project
- **2021** — Butlr raised $7.9M seed round led by Hyperplane; Illusory Material named TIME 100 Best Inventions
- **2022** — Butlr raised $20M Series A (Carrier Global, Tiger Global); Named Forbes 30 Under 30; WEF Technology Pioneer
- **2024** — Butlr raised $38M Series B led by Foundry; first full senior living campus deployment (12 buildings); won Salesforce Dreampitch 2024
- **2025** — Butlr featured in MIT News; 30,000+ sensors across 22 countries; 100M+ sq ft covered

## Achievements

- Forbes 30 Under 30 (2022) - Manufacturing & Industry
- World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer (2022)
- Red Dot Best of the Best Award (2020) - selected from 4,170 entries across 52 countries
- TIME Magazine 100 Best Inventions (2021) - for Illusory Material
- Fast Company Best Experimental Design Project (2020)
- Salesforce Dreampitch 2024 winner - 'AI for a Better Tomorrow'
- Architizer A+ Award in Smart Building Technology
- Core77 Design Award
- Built Butlr to $105M+ total funding with customers including Netflix, Microsoft, Verizon, Qualcomm
- 30,000+ sensors deployed in 22 countries processing 1B+ data points daily
- Published research at UIST, SIGGRAPH, CHI, TEI, DIS, ISWC

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Butlr's last funding round closed (venture, round not specified), bringing total funding to $105M+
- **2025-02** — MIT News feature on Butlr's privacy-first smart building sensors
- **2025-01** — Co-founder Jiani Zeng named to Inc Magazine's 2025 Female Founders 500 List
- **2024-08** — Butlr raised $38M Series B led by Foundry
- **2024-09** — Won Salesforce Dreampitch 2024 for 'AI for a Better Tomorrow'
- **2024** — First full senior living campus deployment across 12 buildings completed

## Links

- Website: https://butlr.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/honghaodeng
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/butlr_io
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/butlr.io/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/honghao-deng
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-07