ROAR for Good raised $1.8 million in growth capital to ramp up distribution of its wireless panic button systems for hotels and health care facilities.
The Philadelphia startup initially sought to raise $1.5 million, but investors surpassed the company's goal for growth capital, ROAR for Good Founder Yasmine Mustafa said. She declined to disclose the identities of the several private angel investors who participated.
ROAR for Good sells battery-powered, Bluetooth-enabled panic button systems to hotels, hospitals and drug rehabilitation centers. The wearable panic button system, called AlwaysOn, was created amid growing reports of harassment of hospitality workers and state and city mandates for facilities to provide panic buttons to staff.
The startup previously raised $2.7 million in a round of growth capital that closed last year.
The latest round of funding comes as ROAR for Good deals with unprecedented demand from potential clients. All of the interest for the startup’s panic buttons has been inbound, Mustafa said.
“We were getting so much inbound interest that there was an opportunity cost to not having more resources,” she said.
ROAR for Good has had six back-to-back record-breaking months of revenue and bookings for installations of its panic button systems, Mustafa said. She declined to share revenue figures.
ROAR for Good is ramping up installations to 60 sites a month by the end of 2022, up from 10 sites per month currently. The startup’s installation footprint has expanded by five times over the last six months, and the tech is now in 10,000 hotel rooms across the country.
The company is also anticipating that it will buy more inventory from its manufacturer, upping it from one purchase every two months to monthly purchases, Mustafa said. The founder said ROAR for Good is still determining how many units it will order this year, but its inventory orders have tripled over the last six months.
The startup is using the capital to triple its sales team, upping its current headcount of 27, and launching a new version of the panic button system that allows for easier installation in facilities. Mustafa declined to share how that easier installation occurs.
ROAR for Good recently scored a patent approval for its Bluetooth low-energy mesh network, a battery-powered central system each panic button is connected to. The battery can last up to three years without being plugged in or being hardwired, Mustafa said.
The patent was helpful in securing investors, she added, and it can also help ROAR for Good develop technology in the future based on its intellectual property.
ROAR for Good is also increasing its presence in health care as health care workers report more attacks from patients and facilities increasingly request federal funding for panic buttons, Bloomberg reported. A pilot program with the Behavioral Wellness Center at Girard in Philadelphia showed a reduction in assaults on staff by 39% and a reduction in worker’s compensation claims by 24%, Mustafa said.
“I want to make sure that we are able to capitalize on all of that, all those different pressure points, and help as many drug addiction centers as possible,” Mustafa said.
