Spintly: How Rohin Parkar is Revolutionizing Smart Buildings with Wireless Access Control
In the world of commercial real estate, "Access Control" has long been synonymous with miles of tangled cables, expensive hardware controllers, and outdated plastic key cards. Rohin Parkar, Co-founder and CEO of Spintly, is cutting the cord. By building a wireless, cloud-based platform that turns any smartphone into a secure key, Rohin is ensuring that smart buildings are no longer a wiring nightmare, but a seamless, software-driven experience.
Rohin Parkar’s journey into IoT is a story of global expertise returning to home turf. With an engineering degree from Goa College of Engineering and an MBA from UT Dallas, Rohin spent nearly two decades at wireless giants like Motorola, Nokia, and Broadcom. In 2017, alongside childhood friend and CTO Malcolm Dsouza, he launched Spintly to solve the "Rigid Hardware" problem in the security industry. Backed by over **$5.8 million** in funding from marquee investors like **Accel** and **Spyre**, Spintly is now a global leader in Bluetooth (BLE) mesh technology, securing millions of square feet across India and the United States.
The BLE Mesh Advantage
Unlike traditional smart locks that require a central hub or direct Wi-Fi for every door, Spintly uses "Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Mesh." This allow doors to communicate with each other, extending the range and reliability of the network without needing a single inch of communication wiring. The system even works without an active internet connection at the door, ensuring access is never compromised.
The Problem: The "Wiring Nightmare" of Security
Traditional access control systems are a relic of the 90s. To secure a single door, an office manager must run cables for power and data, install a heavy controller box in a server room, and manage physical cards that are easily lost or copied. The cost of labor and wiring often exceeds the cost of the lock itself. For modern flexible offices and co-working spaces, this rigidity is a massive barrier to scale.
"I saw that we were still using cards and keys in an age where everyone has a supercomputer in their pocket," Rohin explains. "The security industry was stuck in a 'Hardware Services' mindset. We wanted to build a 'Product' company that used technology to make infrastructure as flexible as software."
The Solution: Smartphone-First Cloud Access
Spintly acts as the "Brain" for modern building access. Their platform combines custom IoT hardware with a powerful cloud backend, allowing facility managers to grant or revoke access instantly from a dashboard. For the user, the experience is invisible: you simply walk up to a door, and your smartphone or smartwatch unlocks it automatically.
The Spintly Wireless Setup
- Wireless Installation: Battery-operated or minimal-power smart readers are installed on doors without data cables.
- Mesh Networking: Readers automatically form a BLE Mesh, communicating status and logs across the building.
- Cloud Provisioning: The administrator grants access to an employee's email or phone number via the Spintly dashboard.
- Smartphone Key: The employee uses the Spintly app; the phone communicates via encrypted Bluetooth to the reader.
- Real-time Analytics: Attendance, occupancy, and security logs are streamed to the cloud for instant visibility.
The Hustle: From Goa to Global
Building a hardware-software startup from Goa was a bold move. Rohin and Malcolm started by "tinkering" in a local lab, initially testing their mesh tech for simple smart lighting before realizing that access control was the multi-billion dollar opportunity. They focused on hiring "Problem-Solvers" from local colleges, training them to build world-class firmware. Their persistence paid off when they secured the **Accel** investment, providing the fuel to expand into the competitive US market.
"Success in IoT is about staying alive through the R&D phase," Rohin reflects. "In the beginning, we participated in every expo and demoed to every facility manager we could find. We used our customers' skepticism to perfect our technology—making it so reliable that even an internet outage wouldn't lock you out."
Spintly Scale & Innovation
- $5.8 Million Total Funding: Backed by Accel India, Spyre, and Alumni Ventures.
- 20+ Years Wireless Expertise: Founders with deep backgrounds in Motorola, Nokia, and Broadcom.
- BLE Mesh Pioneer: One of the few companies globally to master large-scale Bluetooth mesh for security.
- Zero-Wiring Solution: Reducing installation time and cost by up to 70% for commercial buildings.
Lessons in Resilience: The Pivot to Commercial
Spintly’s greatest breakthrough came from a strategic pivot. Initially looking at the fragmented smart home market, the founders realized that the real "Dark Spot" was in commercial offices. By narrowing their focus to a specific niche (Commercial Access Control), they were able to build a "Moat" around their technology that large, slow-moving security giants couldn't touch. For Rohin, the "When" of a decision is as important as the "What."
"Entrepreneurship is a journey toward a dream, not just a job," he notes. "When you face focus loss or fatigue, you have to look at the collective vision of the team. We believe that in 10 years, every door in a modern city will be a Spintly door. That vision keeps us energized even during the toughest hardware design cycles."
Founder's Lesson: The Compounding Effect of Trust
Rohin believes that in enterprise sales, trust is the ultimate compounding asset. "One successful office installation leads to a whole portfolio of buildings. Treat your first 10 customers like partners; their feedback is the R&D roadmap that no consultant can provide."
The Future: AI-Driven Smart Infrastructure
Rohin’s vision for Spintly is to move beyond locks to "Building Intelligence." With the recent 2025 funding round, he is integrating AI and Machine Learning to predict building occupancy, optimize energy usage, and automate security protocols based on behavioral patterns. For Rohin, the goal is simple: to make the physical world as intelligent, accessible, and secure as the digital one.
Spintly is proving that the next generation of global smart-tech can be engineered in India. By cutting the wires and opening the doors to innovation, Rohin Parkar and his team are ensuring that for the modern workspace, the future is finally unlocked.
About the Guest
Rohin Parkar is the Co-founder and CEO of Spintly. An alumnus of Goa College of Engineering and UT Dallas, Rohin is a veteran of the wireless and semiconductor industry with deep experience at Nokia, Motorola, and Broadcom. Under his leadership, Spintly has emerged as a premier IoT startup, winning multiple awards and securing multi-million dollar funding from global VCs like Accel. He is a passionate advocate for deep-tech innovation and a recognized leader in the global smart building ecosystem.
Spintly is a deep-tech IoT startup specializing in wireless, cloud-based access control systems. By utilizing proprietary BLE Mesh technology and a smartphone-first approach, the company helps commercial real estate owners and facility managers reduce costs, eliminate wiring complexity, and provide seamless, secure access for modern workspaces.