There are some industries where status quo is king — but one Tampa entrepreneur is looking to change that.
Peter Quintas wants to modernize the software first responders use, which many times can be over a decade old or simply non-existent.
"The typical vendor in the industry is using 15-year-old technology or they're still on paper," Quintas said. "One of the things I like to say with all the law enforcement is 'Your deputies have teens with more technology in their pocket than your staff does.'"
Quintas founded Soma Global in 2017, and in the two short years the Tampa-based company has expanded to over 30 agencies across 10 states.
The software provides a cloud-based system for first responders that stores information given on 911 calls, helps with records management, collecting data and keeps incident and arrest reports in one system. He has attacked the problem at all levels, and is utilizing the system in state, county, city, and university agencies.
"The analogy a lot of the tech community would understand is we’re what Salesforce was to the business community 15 years ago, but for public safety," Quintas said.
The company originally started in Largo and relocated to downtown Tampa recently. While Quintas had stints in Chicago and New York City, he believed Tampa Bay provided all the big city opportunities with small town affordability needed to create a business.
"I could have easily stayed in New York City or moved to Chicago but I want to be here," he said. "It's easier to grow a company here, easier to hire remote talent. Part of the reason is because of the area, and also being a big part of a growing market was attractive then."
And the move paid off. In the next 12 months, he is looking to double his clients across the nation and add roughly 35 new hires.
Soma Global is completely funded by its three co-founders. Quintas said while they may turn to venture capital funds eventually, as the company grows they believe being self-funded is the best way to ensure a solid trajectory.
"We didn’t go to any VC funds, but we did that on purpose," he said. "We wanted to have the control and be able to outlast any cycles — ups or downs — because we're deploying a system that can't go away, or people will die."
As for the future, Quintas believes his system can be used beyond the public safety sector — and beyond the United States.
"A lot of what we've built can move laterally in a government system," he said. "We can move to ports, the dispatch (collection) side can be used for Public Works and safety departments. There’s a whole private sector that we can also go after. We’re probably tackling the hardest thing first, but data sharing is a problem across agencies. And with Soma Global, there’s global in our name for a reason. I would take it internationally."
