Drift Net lands new funding, adds manufacturing facility to make schools safer

WVV Capital, a venture capital firm founded as a joint partnership between Advocate Health, Foxconn, John Controls International and Northwestern Mutual, has invested in Chicago startup Drift Net Inc.

The Series A extension will help the artificial intelligence security company, which uses visual sensors, threat sensors and thermal imaging to detect safety and health threats, expand the manufacturing and production of its KnowWhere Campus Safety System, which provides schools with real-time data on where occupants are throughout the building — vital info during a critical incident.

The new funding comes after Drift Net closed a $15.6 million Series A at the beginning of 2023.

Drift Net would not disclose specifics on how much funding it received from WVV Capital, but a spokesperson with the startup said the VC firm is looking to back AI-driven startups. Drift Net uses AI for things like visitor management systems that scan IDs and run background checks to give schools the tools they need to better prepare for security threats and detect weapons in real time.

The startup built out its marketing and sales teams in 2023 and is in the process of opening a new manufacturing facility in Chicago's West Loop to increase its manufacturing efforts. Headquartered at 70 W. Madison, Drift Net opened its new 10,000-square-foot facility at 650 W. Lake St. last month.

Overall the company's head count doubled in size in 2023, reaching north of 60 employees with plans to reach 150 employees by the end of 2024, expanding primarily its manufacturing, sales and software engineering teams.

Drift Net currently works with more than 40 districts and more than 150 schools, including schools in Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

While a goal of Drift Net's is to be in Chicago-area schools as well, the startup tends to follow grant funding for its marketing efforts.

For example, "Georgia previously released $50,000 to every school in the state just to upgrade their security measures," a Drift Net spokesperson told Chicago Inno. "Schools generally don't have a lot of disposable income, so our marketing and sales efforts are guided by those grant-funding opportunities and different bills that legislation gets passed."

He added that it will be a point of emphasis for Drift Net moving forward to get in more Chicago Public Schools and private charter schools, though their disposable income tends to be limited.

Drift Net has a cap that no school pays more than $14,000 for the KnowWhere system.