RapidDeploy: HAVAÍC deepens investment in 911 solutions

HAVAÍC, a venture capital firm headquartered in Cape Town, has announced an additional investment in RapidDeploy, building upon its participation in a bridge round last October. The VC firm has fortified its stake through a second investment as part of RapidDeploy’s ongoing Series C equity round.

Established in 2016, RapidDeploy stands as the premier cloud-native platform for public safety, delivering forward-looking solutions and intelligent, mission-critical data to 911 agencies across the United States.

Originating in Cape Town and now based in Austin, Texas, the company strives to curtail response times, enhance situational awareness, and foster improved outcomes. Additionally, RapidDeploy equips leaders in public safety with data insights to refine emergency response workflows.

With over 1,500 911-agencies scattered across the United States, RapidDeploy’s cloud-native offerings, Radius Mapping and Eclipse Analytics, are proving transformative. Radius Mapping functions as a central call-taking map, amalgamating mission-critical intelligence such as location data, real-time tracking, floor plans, messaging, health records, vehicle data, and live video streaming onto a single screen.

Complementing this, Eclipse Analytics serves as a browser-based platform that amalgamates 911 call data on a large scale, providing on-demand reporting and analytics via a single platform.

Grant Rock, partner at HAVAÍC, commented, “RapidDeploy’s revolutionary technology is facilitating the industry’s shift towards Next Generation 911. The seamless access to life-saving information empowers telecommunicators and first responders in the field by equipping them with the data they require for quicker, more precise responses.

“It makes an unequivocal difference. In alignment with our investment philosophy, RapidDeploy exemplifies African-born tech that is making a substantial impact on the global stage.”

RapidDeploy CEO Steven Raucher expressed, “We are elated to have HAVAÍC’s backing. This investment enables us to persist in innovating our suite of Next Generation 911 solutions tailored for the public safety sector. We are eager to build on our accomplishments and expand the reach of our mission-critical software to empower 911 agencies, telecommunicators, and first responders, ultimately leading to the preservation of more lives.”

RapidDeploy recently revealed the expansion of its Next Generation 911 product suite with the introduction of RapidONE, a fresh browser-based call-handling solution, and Lightning, a novel mobile app that channels critical information to tens of thousands of first responders in the field.

This accord further bolsters HAVAÍC’s investment in SafeTech and follows the VC’s latest contributions to RNR, FinAccess, ShopEx, and Talk360. HAVAÍC now serves a collective 18.5 million customers across more than 180 countries worldwide via its roster of 21 promising early-stage tech companies. So far, HAVAÍC has notched up four international exits, yielding annualised returns that comfortably surpass its 30% target.

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