AI startup Prepared cements $27M to modernize 911 emergency response

AI startup Prepared has secured $27 million for Series B funding. This round saw Andreessen Horowitz as the leader while First Round Capital, M13, and NewView Capital joined it, making a total funding of $57 million to the company. The New York-based company is working to improve the 911 call centers which remain slow and imprecise due to the traditional technology.

Emergency Response Systems

American emergency response systems receive about 240 million calls on average per year. However, a large number of call centers for emergency number 911 still use technologies originating from the era of the landline, which poses a problem in obtaining vital information like real-time location, photos, videos, and texts from wireless devices.

The above message is from Michael Chime, the CEO and co-founder of Prepared who notes that these past practices are not just laxative technologies but are “a question of life and death”. Prepared’s AI-driven platform is intended to close this gap by giving call takers immediate access to important data through a browser. This system can easily fit into an already existing network and easier for specialized 911 agencies to implement the technology without fear of changing their entire framework. 

Usage of AI for Public Safety Enhancement

The new funding will help Prepared to advance its assistive AI tools to improve the efficacy of emergency response organizations. According to David Ulevitch, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Prepared’s solutions “extend the efficiencies of local emergency response teams” and enable communities.

One of the latest features that Prepared has integrated is a two-way audio translation where 911 calls made in Spanish are translated into English for call takers. This kind of translation can cut the time slot required for third-party interpreters when dealing with such emergencies. Another feature includes compatibility with Apple’s Emergency SOS for iPhones, where customers can freely stream live videos, recorded media, and text messages to 911 dispatchers throughout calls. 

Journey and Vision of Prepared

Prepared was launched in 2019 by Michael Chime, Dylan Gleicher, and Neal Soni. Prepared initially was developed based on one type of emergency response school shooting. Three friends who were raised in the area of past horrific school mass shootings like Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, quit Yale University to develop a safety application for schools. A year into the competition, they saw that a broader category of 911 call centers could use their product, so they changed how they operated.

Prepared currently assists approximately 1,000 agencies in 49 states shielding close to 30% of the American population. The company’s web-based platform displays it to dispatchers in real-time and employs AI to extract possible items of concern, including addresses and descriptions of emergencies. This platform also translates texts for dispatchers where necessary, thus making it easier to respond to emergencies

Significant Market Impact

The $27 million Series B funding will help Prepared to grow and further develop its AI-based platform. With the funds, the company intends to add new features to its service while enhancing the ones that will allow the 911 call centers to handle sudden emergencies better. Scalable technologies have already been integrated into Prepared’s model and are influential in changes to the emergency response world. The availability of essential information empowers the dispatchers to make rapid and accurate decisions during emergencies. This could be of immense benefit in that it would help shorten the time taken to attend to sensitive issues.  

Conclusion

Prepared’s $27m Series B funding round is the next stepping stone in the company’s goal of revamping 911 emergency calling technologies. Using AI and advanced technologies, Prepared is contributing to the change of the traditional methods, which do not meet the requirements of the emergency response of the 21st century. It will help the company to extend the possibilities of the platform and bring further benefits to society and public safety.