RapidSOS, a New York-based provider of an intelligent safety platform, just raised $75m in financing. In conjunction with the announcement, CEO Michael Martin answered to our questions about the company, the product and the funding, as well as their plans.
FinSMEs: Hi Michael, can you tell us a bit more about you. What’s your background?
Michael Martin: I grew up in a farming community in rural Indiana. I ended up working in venture capital in New York City after college.
In 2012, I was followed home one night in Harlem, NYC, when I realized how difficult it is to get help when you need it most. Not long after, my father fell off the roof of our childhood home while trying to clear snow. For nearly two hours, he lay in the frozen driveway with a broken wrist and shattered hip, unable to reach 911. It wasn’t until my mother came home from work and was able to dial 911 from our home phone that an ambulance was called.
After those experiences I began to cold call 911 centers around the United States to try to learn more about how this system worked. Uber had just come out and I thought, I can press a button and get a car, why can’t I press a button and get police, fire, EMS. Obviously that was woefully uninformed. Week after week talking to 911 center directors I began to appreciate the incredible work that 911 and first responders did every day, often with little more than the caller’s voice. Literally the data flow in most 911 calls is limited to only 512 bytes – that’s less data than was sent in the very first TransAtlantic telegram in 1858!
I went off to grad school to work on the challenge where I met my co-founder, Nick Horelik, who was doing his PhD in Nuclear Engineering at MIT at the time. Over the next two years of grad school we would work with thousands of 911 telecommunicators and first responders as we iterated on the technology at the Harvard Innovation Lab.
That partnership with 911 and first responders would be instrumental in building RapidSOS and taking on this challenge. Today we power over half a billion devices in partnership with 90+ tech companies and over 15,000 911 and first responder agencies.
FinSMEs: Let’s speak about RapidSOS. What is the market problem you want to solve? What is the real opportunity?
Michael Martin: We rely on technology in every aspect of our lives: how we communicate, the tools we use to do our work, and the means to access entertaining content. We turn to it as an essential tool or resource to help us do the things we love; but the needs are increasing for technology to help us protect ourselves and those we love. We need technology and people working together to keep our communities safe.
To that end, and in partnership with public safety, RapidSOS built an intelligent safety platform that securely links life-saving data from 500+ million connected devices, apps, and sensors directly to safety agents, 911 and first responders globally. Last year this platform helped over 165 million people in an emergency – sharing critical data like their location, health conditions, and vehicle telematics in their emergency.
For the past ten years, RapidSOS has worked hand-in-hand with 911 to transform emergency response. This incredible partnership is a key driver in the development of the RapidSOS platform.
FinSMEs: How does it work? Which are the main features?
Michael Martin: RapidSOS’ intelligent safety platform offers leading technology, insurance, and healthcare companies a turn-key API for adding 24/7 professional monitoring, voice, and data emergency response services. With a few lines of code, partners are able to integrate enhanced verification and high-touch monitoring backed by over 15,000 first responder agencies, enabling faster and smarter responses.
FinSMEs: What are the features differentiating the product from competitors?
Michael Martin: At RapidSOS, the focus is developing solutions (innovations) that help telecommunicators get information to first responders as quickly and efficiently as possible.
In 2022, with powerful new features and the expansion of the data types supported via the platform, innovation took two forms: (1) the development of new solutions that facilitate the transfer of data from a user’s device to 911 and first responders in the field and (2) The accelerated adoption of RapidSOS safety features by innovative hardware, software, and app-based companies (across verticals including consumer electronics, home security, smoke and fire alarms, connected vehicles, digital health, personal medical devices, and consumers apps).
FinSMEs: You just raised a new funding round. Please, tell us something more about it…
Michael Martin: This latest funding is focused on the expansion of our intelligent safety platform and leveraging data to save lives. We believe that every connected device and service should work in harmony with first responders in the moments that matter most.
The round was led by Dave DeWalt, 3x successful public company CEO, and his growth equity firm NightDragon focuses on the convergence of cyber and physical security.
FinSMEs: Can you share some numbers and achievements of your business (clients/partnerships/employees)?
Michael Martin:
- 90+ tech partners that we provide professional monitoring, voice, and data connectivity for
- 50+ public safety software vendors
- 15,000+ first responder agencies on four continents
- Over 200 employees
FinSMEs: what’s your medium-term plans?
Michael Martin: We’ve now partnered with 911 to integrate data across the workflow. We are busy rapidly expanding the types of data and services available to citizens using that technology.