Lynx Automation: How Dipen Gala is Digitizing the Hospitality Experience with IoT
For Dipen Gala, the journey to building a global IoT giant didn’t start in a high-tech lab, but in the freezing cold of a Chicago winter. As an Airbnb host juggling multiple properties, he found himself racing across town in snowstorms just to hand over physical keys to delayed guests. Today, as the Co-founder of Lynx Automation, Dipen has turned that frustration into an enterprise-grade platform that manages over 20,000 rooms, providing contactless check-ins and smart automation for the world’s largest hospitality brands.
Dipen Gala’s background is a masterclass in combining technical rigor with business acumen. An engineer by training and a graduate of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Dipen spent years on Wall Street with the Citadel Investment Group before taking the entrepreneurial plunge. Alongside his wife and co-founder Resha Shroff (CEO) and CTO Naman Patel, he has built a "Software-as-a-Service" powerhouse that was enabling "contactless" travel long before the pandemic made it a global necessity.
The "Tie" Reality Check
When Dipen returned to India after landing a prestigious New York job, his grandmother gave him a unique perspective: "So, in short, you're still wearing someone else's tie, right? Let me know when you are your own boss." For Dipen, coming from a traditional Gujarati business family, entrepreneurship wasn't just a career choice—it was in his blood.
The Problem: The "Hassle" of the Physical Key
In the early days of the short-term rental boom, the biggest friction point wasn't the booking—it was the arrival. For hosts, managing keys meant constant physical presence. For guests, it meant the anxiety of flight delays or meeting strangers at odd hours. As Dipen’s own real estate portfolio grew, he realized that manual management was impossible to scale.
"Chicago winters are brutal," Dipen recalls. "Flight delays and snowstorms were constant. I realized that if I couldn't automate the entry process, I couldn't grow. I’m an engineer; I knew there had to be a way to control these properties from one single dashboard."
The Solution: The Lynx IoT Ecosystem
Lynx Automation is a hardware-agnostic software platform that integrates with more than 300 different smart devices. While they are most famous for their smart lock integrations, the platform offers a full-stack automation suite for property managers.
The Lynx Guest Journey
- Instant Digital Key: Upon booking, the guest receives a unique 4-digit access code or mobile key.
- Automated Comfort: The room’s temperature is automatically adjusted to a comfortable 72°F (22°C) shortly before check-in.
- Contactless Entry: Guests use their phone or code to enter—no key handoffs required.
- Safety Monitoring: Noise and leak sensors ensure the property remains secure without violating guest privacy.
- Auto-Expiration: The access code expires precisely at check-out, ensuring immediate security for the next guest.
The Pivot: From Airbnb Hosts to Enterprise Whales
Initially, Lynx targeted individual Airbnb hosts (B2C). However, they quickly discovered a major flaw: individuals often view hosting as a part-time hobby. When they stop renting, they stop paying for software. To build a sustainable venture, Dipen and Resha made a critical pivot to B2B Enterprise.
The Scale Pivot: B2C vs. B2B
B2C (The Old Way): High churn, low professional use, difficult to scale support for thousands of tiny accounts.
B2B (The Lynx Way): Targeting property managers with 50 to 1,000+ rooms. High reliability, long-term contracts, and a desperate need for operational efficiency.
The "Poster Child" Growth Hack
Without a massive marketing budget, Lynx scaled through a strategy Dipen calls the "Poster Child Syndrome." In every new market—like Hawaii or a major ski destination—the team identifies the most prominent resort or company that everyone looks up to. They provide heavy discounts and white-glove service to win that "Whale." Once the market leader is on board, every other property manager in the region follows suit out of trust.
Lynx Automation Scale & Traction
- 20,000+ Units: Managed across the US and international markets.
- 300+ Device Integrations: Hardware-agnostic platform supporting all major smart locks and sensors.
- Zero Sales Hires: Scaled significantly through engineering-led product growth and founder-led sales.
- Chicago Booth Winner: Won the prestigious New Venture Challenge at the University of Chicago.
The Meaning of Entrepreneurship: Defining Your Journey
For Dipen, entrepreneurship is the ultimate form of liberty. He credits an early mentor with a piece of advice that changed his worldview: "As a startup, you have the liberty to fire the customer."
"Google cannot say no to anybody, but a startup can," Dipen explains. "True entrepreneurship is about finding your ideal customer profile and having the courage to say no to customers who are a bad fit and would drag your resources in the wrong direction. You define your own journey."
Founder's Lesson: The "Off" Switch
Dipen admits that he struggles to "switch off," but he uses extreme sports—like scuba diving and skiing—to force his brain to disconnect from the startup world. "You have to find what intellectually stimulates you enough to take your mind away from the stress of the income statement."
Lessons for Global Builders
1. Fail Fast, Iterate Faster
Lynx once spent significant R&D dollars on an "Alexa for Hotel Rooms" project. They soon realized guests had major privacy concerns about being "listened to" in a bedroom. Rather than forcing it, they scrapped the project and moved on. "Learn the lesson and fire the project faster," Dipen advises.
2. Trust is the Only Currency
Dipen co-founded the company with his wife, Resha. While working with a spouse has its challenges, he highlights the "unbelievable trust level" as their greatest competitive advantage. "You don't have to explain why you are working late or why you are stressed. They already know."
3. The Income Statement is the Boss
Ignore the "show-off" side of the startup world—the fundraising rounds and the press releases. The only real boss in entrepreneurship is your income statement. If you are true to that, you can carve your own path.
Lynx Automation is proving that the future of hospitality is not just about a bed and a breakfast—it’s about a seamless, automated, and intelligent experience. By solving a problem born in a Chicago snowstorm, Dipen Gala and his team are now warming up the hospitality industry worldwide.
About the Guest
Dipen Gala is the Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) of Lynx Automation. An alumnus of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and an engineer by trade, Dipen has an extensive background in finance and technology, including a tenure at the Citadel Investment Group. He is a serial builder with a focus on IoT and SaaS, and under his leadership, Lynx has become a leader in hospitality automation, serving thousands of units globally.
Lynx Automation is an enterprise software platform for the hospitality industry that provides contactless check-in, keyless entry, and smart property automation. Based in the US with roots in India, the platform integrates with hundreds of smart devices to provide property managers with a centralized dashboard for operational efficiency and guest satisfaction.