Flock Safety Raises $275M at $7.5B Valuation

Flock Safety Secures $275 Million in New Funding

Flock Safety, alongside Bedrock Capital, a long-standing venture capital partner, revealed on Thursday the completion of a $275 million funding round. This investment results in a company valuation of $7.5 billion.

Core Technology and Applications

Flock Safety specializes in video surveillance technology powered by computer vision. Its systems are utilized by a diverse range of entities, including law enforcement agencies, businesses, and property management organizations.

The company is particularly recognized for its automatic license plate recognition technology. However, Flock’s offerings extend to gunshot detection systems, specifically designed for school environments, and they recently broadened their portfolio through the acquisition of Aerodome, a public safety drone company.

Rapid Growth and Financial Performance

Established in 2017, Flock Safety participated in the Y Combinator program in the same year. The company experienced substantial growth in the years following its inception.

According to Holly Beilin, a spokesperson for Flock Safety, the company surpassed $300 million in annual recurring revenue in the previous year, representing a 70% increase year-over-year.

Funding History and Investor Participation

To date, the Atlanta-based startup has accumulated over $950 million in total funding, as reported by PitchBook data. Its previous valuation, assessed one year ago, stood at $4.8 billion.

This latest funding round saw participation from existing investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Greenoaks, Meritech Capital, Matrix Partners, and Y Combinator.

Controversies and Legal Challenges

Due to the nature of its surveillance technology, Flock Safety has faced scrutiny and controversy. The ACLU has voiced concerns regarding the potential for mass surveillance enabled by Flock’s systems.

Furthermore, privacy advocates in Norfolk, Virginia, are currently pursuing legal action to prevent the deployment of Flock technology within their city.

The company is also currently involved in a wrongful termination lawsuit initiated by the mayor of a California town, as previously reported.

Investor Confidence and Early Support

Despite these challenges, Flock Safety has consistently attracted significant venture capital investment.

Geoff Lewis, founder of Bedrock Capital, shared an anecdote about traveling to Atlanta in 2018 to persuade Flock co-founder Garrett Langley to accept a $10 million Series A-1 investment. However, Langley had already finalized the company’s Series A funding at that time.

This initial deal was characterized by Bedrock as having a “totally insane” valuation of $60 million, tripling the valuation from the preceding A round just months earlier. Langley accepted the funding, and Bedrock has since invested over $164 million in the company.

Broader Investment Portfolio and Industry Recognition

Lewis, previously associated with Founders Fund, has since expanded Bedrock’s portfolio to include prominent companies such as OpenAI, Rippling, and Mach Industries.

David Ulevitch, leading a16z’s American Dynamism fund, has also spearheaded multiple funding rounds for Flock Safety. Ulevitch and David George, a growth VC at a16z, stated in 2021 that Flock Safety is “literally helping to save lives” in addition to protecting property.

Garry Tan of Y Combinator recently expressed his approval of Flock Safety’s claimed success rate in crime prevention via a LinkedIn post.

Beilin emphasized that the company’s revenue growth, coupled with its public safety products, has driven investors to “continue to double and triple down on Flock.”