Harbor & ADT Partner to Gamify Emergency Preparedness

Harbor Launches Premium Tier with ADT Integration

Harbor, the application focused on making emergency preparedness engaging through gamification, has announced the availability of a premium subscription level. This new tier incorporates HarborHELP, an emergency assistance feature developed in collaboration with the home security provider, ADT.

The premium offering also introduces a family plan, enabling subscribers to include an unlimited number of friends and family members within their account.

Initial Funding and Leadership

The company secured $5 million in funding in August 2020 from 25madison, a New York-based venture studio specializing in the incubation and funding of early-stage companies.

Dan Kessler, formerly an executive at Headspace, joined as CEO in January. Kessler subsequently appointed Eduardo Fonseca, previously the CTO of GoodRx, as chief technology officer.

The initial public launch of the Harbor product occurred in October.

How Harbor Works

Harbor provides users with a personalized risk assessment for their homes. It then delivers customized, gamified lessons designed to enhance preparedness for potential emergencies.

Upon selecting specific emergency scenarios, users receive weekly tasks related to preparedness. These tasks can include actions like water storage, smoke detector checks, and assembling a go-bag.

The core concept of Harbor is to divide a potentially overwhelming undertaking into smaller, manageable steps over an extended timeframe.

These tasks are complemented by educational quizzes, testing users’ knowledge of essential emergency procedures, such as water purification techniques.

The company also generates revenue through a curated e-commerce platform offering related products.

The ADT Partnership and HarborHELP

The latest launch expands Harbor’s capabilities through its partnership with ADT, providing nationwide coverage to its users.

Activating the HarborHELP emergency button prompts the user to choose between a phone call or a text message. Within moments, they are connected with an ADT dispatcher to determine the appropriate course of action, potentially involving the dispatch of fire, medical, or other emergency services.

Even if the user doesn’t respond to the prompt, ADT will dispatch assistance to the user’s location, assuming they may be incapacitated.

“ADT is providing Harbor access to a substantial and costly nationwide network,” Kessler explained. “While a financial component exists, the relationship is fundamentally strategic. Our companies share a common vision and are mutually enabling capabilities we couldn’t achieve independently.”

New Features: Offline Access and Enhanced Risk Assessment

Alongside the premium launch, Harbor is introducing an Offline feature. This feature automatically saves critical emergency information directly to the user’s phone, ensuring accessibility even without cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity.

The company has significantly invested in refining its risk assessment algorithm. Over recent months, several new data sources have been integrated to deliver a highly personalized and precise risk evaluation.

These data sources encompass household details, information from NOAA, FEMA, and the USGS, land maps, building codes, and proprietary data sets.