ZeroEyes has raised $23 million to help the Conshohocken artificial intelligence startup boost staff and increase its footprint after seeing some 360% growth in the past year.
The round was led by Octave Ventures, Alliance Holdings and existing investors. ZeroEyes, founded by a group of former Navy SEALs and military veterans, uses artificial intelligence that integrates with existing surveillance systems to detect guns and potential active shooters. The company's last major fundraising round came with a $20.9 million Series A two years ago in August 2021. Octave Ventures also led that round.
Founded in 2018, ZeroEyes has grown to more than 150 people and CEO Mike Lahiff said the company could add 20 to 30 more employees by the end of the year, with roughly half based in Conshohocken. To accommodate growth, Lahiff said the company plans to expand its operations center at the Spring Mill Corporate Center by 6,000 square feet.
By year's end, Lahiff expects revenue to increase by 400% over 2022. He declined to disclose total revenue figures.
ZeroEyes technology has been deployed for hundreds of customers across thousands of buildings and 37 states. Those include schools, places of worship, businesses, government buildings and military bases. Lahiff, a former Navy SEAL, said growth has been steady across the board in the company's three main sectors: education, commercial and government.
"From the top line going down, the sales funnel is there for us, it's about execution," Lahiff said.
In terms of how he will specifically utilize the influx of cash, Lahiff said it's about "threading the needle" in allocating capital to grow footprint, headcount and reinvesting into research and development. New hires will mainly be on the operations and engineering side.
Lahiff said the technology has had some successes in the past year preventing shootings. Although business has been climbing quickly for ZeroEyes, "it's unfortunate for the rest of the country. It's a sign of the times," Lahiff said.
"The more cameras we're on, the more opportunities we have to save time, save lives, to stop guns and get the alerts and the information to the right people so we can stop violence from happening or mitigate it and reduce the time to end it," Lahiff said.
ZeroEyes' capital raise comes in a difficult fundraising environment for startups. Total fundraising secured by local startups sank 81% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2023. Through the first two quarters, there were 11 companies that raised more than the $23 million secured by ZeroEyes, according to data from PitchBook.
