South African first responder platform RapidDeploy has raised a $12 million Series-A round from U.S. venture capital fund GreatPoint Ventures and Samsung Next.
The South African company is in the process of relocating its head office from Cape Town to Austin, Texas, with a second location planned for Washington, D.C., according to Ventureburn.
Ray Lane,
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RapidDeploy CEO Steven Raucher will be based in Washington, D.C. for better access to U.S. government agencies.
The firm’s cloud-based software product, DispatchTM, enables public safety officials to reduce emergency response times for first responders.
This is done through precise location information, allocation of appropriate resources for optimized response, mobile field service apps and advanced incident management tools.
The company signed a deal in 2018 for an undisclosed amount with video and internet service provider AT&T to offer its first responder platform to 911 emergency service, according to IOL.
RapidDeploy’s platform has been available to 6,500 or more 911 providers in the U.S. since August 2018 as part of the initial arrangement.
Live pilots of the first responder platform in Florida and Charleston, South Carolina are being run alongside the current 911 system to allow for comparison.
The DispatchTM platform is already used in more than 35 government agencies globally, according to ITWeb.
The AT&T deal and the firm’s willingness to move its headquarters to the U.S. were enough to attract a $12 million investment from GreatPoint Ventures and Samsung Next.
GreatPoint is an early-stage venture fund based in Massachusetts with investments in companies including Activ Surgical, BeyondCore and Farmer’s Fridge, according to their website.
Samsung Next is a California-based venture capital company that invests in software and services startups that it believes will define the future of hardware and software integration.
The investment will be used to fund the expansion of RapidDeploy’s product and technology teams in the markets it serves, particularly the U.S.
RapidDeploy will still maintain a presence in South Africa, with 30 staff in offices in Cape Town and plans to continue growing the South African buisness, according to Ventureburn.
The company intends to have around 25 employees in its Austin office by the end of March, Ventureburn reports.
