Enterprise Video Security Company Verkada Raises $15M in Series A Funding Led by Next47, Siemens' Venture Firm
New investment will expand the development of Verkada's IoT computer vision capabilities and accelerate the company's faster-than-market growth rate
SAN MATEO, Calif., April 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Verkada, leading provider of next-generation video security systems for businesses and schools, today announced $15 million in Series A financing. The funding round was led by Siemens' venture fund, Next47, with participation from existing investors, including First Round Capital, entrepreneur Hans Robertson, and Stanford professor and computer scientist, Héctor García-Molina.
Challenging the status quo in a massive market
The funding comes as Verkada has experienced rapid growth in demand for its technology, particularly among K-12 schools, colleges and universities, retailers, hospitality brands and major corporations. Yuma County School District in Arizona, for instance, recently selected Verkada to replace its existing video security equipment. The new 1,000-camera system will give school administrators new capabilities, such as the ability to share security camera live feeds via SMS text and email.
"Verkada is helping us simplify and strengthen critical security infrastructure across our district," said Dean Farar, CIO at Yuma Educational Technology Consortium.
As a challenger in the $16 billion-a-year market for commercial video surveillance technology, Verkada offers a range of benefits, including stronger data security, user-friendly software that works on any device, and automated SMS alerts that get sent when a camera detects an unusual event. Each Verkada camera is an all-in-one system that stores video locally and operates seamlessly with Verkada's cloud-based software, eliminating the need for equipment such as digital video recorders and on-premise servers.
Funding to accelerate R&D in computer vision and fuel sales team growth
Verkada will use the additional capital to scale its manufacturing operations, continue to rapidly grow its sales team, and expand the development of enterprise applications of computer vision and machine learning.
"We've seen phenomenal traction with our product so far and will be significantly growing the size of our engineering team so we can build new products even faster," said Verkada CEO and co-founder, Filip Kaliszan. "This will include enhancing our existing products, adding new products, and building out new features, like advanced A.I. capabilities."
Proven founding team partners with Global 100 leader to accelerate growth
Verkada's founding team includes software engineers who previously founded CourseRank, which was acquired by Chegg, and hardware experts and an original co-founder from Meraki, the cloud-based networking leader that was acquired by Cisco Systems for $1.2 billion in 2012.
"Verkada is building an enterprise-grade video surveillance solution that has all of the functionality and ease-of-use of cloud-managed consumer video cameras," said Lak Ananth, Managing Partner & CEO of Next47. "That is a category re-defining combination in the market for physical security and advanced building systems."
Members of Verkada's team will be in attendance at ISC West, the largest physical security trade show in North America, held this week (April 10-13) at Sands Expo in Las Vegas.
Learn more and get a free trial of Verkada's technology at https://www.verkada.com/.
About Verkada
Verkada makes enterprise physical security systems for the Internet of Things (IoT) era. Verkada's platform combines plug-and-play security cameras with intelligent, cloud-based software — all in a scalable, user-friendly system. Hundreds of organizations use Verkada to enhance physical security and gain new insights that improve the efficiency of their operations. The company was founded in 2016 by computer scientists and security experts from Stanford University, and Hans Robertson, the former COO and co-founder of Meraki. Verkada is headquartered in San Mateo, California.
About Next47
Next47 is a global venture firm created by Siemens that invests in, and partners with, entrepreneurs who think big and build industry-defining companies. With offices in Boston, Beijing, London, Munich, Paris, Palo Alto and Stockholm, Next47 gives start-ups unparalleled access to one of the world's largest portfolios of customers in the areas of industry, energy and infrastructure as well as domain expertise in the deep technologies that impact those customers.
SOURCE Verkada
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