The Arlington-based mobile safety solutions provider LiveSafe announced Monday receiving funding from the Center for Innovation Technology's CIT GAP Funds. The parties chose not to disclose specifics of the deal.
LiveSafe is a mobile app that aims to prevent crime and promote public safety through crowdsourcing information from the community about potential threats. On the app, available on both iPhone and Android, you simply enter your location, by school or community, and you can then communicate with nearby police officers. If you see something shady, you can send anonymous tips of the threatening activity. Or if you're in a position where you need to communicate with the police in a discrete, silent manner, you can use the chat feature to contact them. The mobile app builds off of the anonymous tip platforms being implemented within many police departments across the country, but this app has a cleaner design and is an all-in-one tool for your public safety. Also, in an age when school shootings are happening more and more frequently, this app is tailored for on-campus use at colleges around the country.
"LiveSafe’s mobile safety solutions will deter, prevent and solve crime and other forms of misconduct by increasing communication with law enforcement," said LiveSafe CEO Jenny Abramson. "Over time, the LiveSafe solution can transform public safety throughout the country by empowering individuals to participate in crowdsourcing safety. We appreciate the CIT GAP Funds investment, which will help with development and expansion of our product in addition to funding additional market roll-outs."
Founded to fund high-growth technology, life science and clean technology Virginia companies, CIT GAP Funds has funded more than 90 startups since its launch in 2006. Some of the other companies CIT GAP has recently funded in the D.C. area are Speek, Veenome and Cont3nt.com.
"Companies like LiveSafe are finding new ways to revolutionize the public safety and security industries, which is why we made the investment," said CIT CEO and President Pete Jobse. "CIT is proud to help fund important advances in technologies that will be able to provide safety and peace of mind to users."
Unrelated to the funding, but compelling nervertheless is the backstory one of LiveSafe's team members – Kristina Anderson, chief evangelist for the app, was a survivor of the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech. She was a sophomore then and shot three times. Since then, she has dedicated herself to advocating issues in campus safety and emergency planning.
