Impinj opens Beacon Hill testing space

Seattle-based Internet-of-Things company Impinj Inc. (Nasdaq: PI) is opening a 29,000-square-foot testing facility at 2001 22nd Ave. S. on Beacon Hill.

The new space is in addition to the 66,000 square feet of office space Impinj has on three floors at 400 Fairview Ave. N. in South Lake Union, according to Gaylene Meyer, vice president of global marketing and communications at Impinj. Roughly 30 to 40 employees will work at the Beacon Hill facility to start.

"We needed a little bit more space to set up some real-world environments that our customers use like loading docks, tunnels," Meyer said. "This space is used both for our lab, as well as for some R&D space as well as simulations of customer environments. We've done a lot of that in our building in South Lake Union, but office space is at a bit of a premium, and we needed a little bit more of a lablike space."

Meyer said the new space is partly up and running — only a few people are working there now — and Impinj hasn't yet set an official opening date.

The company moved into its South Lake Union space in 2016. Meyer said the area on Beacon Hill is still developing, and Impinj is looking forward to being a part of positive change in the neighborhood.

Impinj, founded in 2000, connects physical goods like apparel and automobile parts to the internet through computer chips and software. These chips help clients identify, track and verify their assets. The company says it has connected over 75 billion items to the internet. Its clients include Volvo, Coca-Cola and Cisco.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Impinj had 389 employees at the end of last year. A company spokesperson said roughly 280 of those employees are based in Washington. Impinj reported $85.9 million in revenue during the first quarter, up from $53.1 million during the first quarter of last year.

As for future physical footprint growth, Meyer said Impinj has room to grow with its current space.

"As we stretch out into that Beacon facility and some teams move there, we'll sort through how we use the South Lake Union space," she said.