Entrepreneur and Reserve Police Officer Rahul Sidhu and Chief Architect Kenaniah Cerny Expand Next-Gen Drone-As-First-Responder Technology for Public Safety Agencies
LOS ANGELES — (BUSINESS WIRE) — May 22, 2024 — Aerodome, the leader in Drone-As-First-Responder (DFR) technology, today announced that the company has raised $21.5 million in Series A funding to continue building DFR solutions and growing its engineering and go-to-market teams. CRV led the round with participation from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Karman Ventures, Immad Akhund (CEO, Mercury), and Ford Street Ventures. The company raised its seed round in October 2023, led by a16z and 2048 Ventures, bringing its total funding to $28 million.
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Aerodome, the leader in Drone-As-First-Responder (DFR) technology, today announced that the company has raised $21.5 million in Series A funding to continue building DFR solutions and growing its engineering and go-to-market teams. (Graphic: Business Wire)
“Upon experiencing Aerodome’s technology firsthand on a fly-along, I immediately recognized its potential to have a scalable impact on public safety and its ability to save lives,” said Saar Gur, General Partner, CRV and Aerodome’s newest board member. “Speed is of the essence in emergencies. Aerodome doesn’t just provide police agencies with ROI, it also gives them an insanely valuable source of real-time intelligence to first responders out in the field.”
Co-founded by Aerodome CEO and reserve police officer Rahul Sidhu and Aerodome Chief Architect Kenaniah Cerny, the company is ushering in a new era of DFR with a turnkey solution that is faster, safer, and more energy efficient than others on the market. By providing a fully automated and remote air support operating system, Aerodome equips agencies with a highly advanced, 24/7 solution that reduces the need for patrol officers to respond to calls by 15 percent while offering 80 percent faster response times.
“As the second officer in the country to launch a DFR program, I wanted to build a more advanced, automated solution that would reduce the strain on officer resources,” said Sidhu, also a former paramedic, crew chief, and pilot. “Our DFR 2.0 solution is a true force multiplier, since it only requires a single operator overseeing multiple drones at once. Our air traffic awareness system acts as a better observer than human pilots – capable of tracking planes, helicopters, other drones, and even birds in all directions, which saves precious time and resources for agencies.”
In just a year since its founding, Aerodome has secured contracts with police departments, nearly doubling its earnings projections for Q1 of 2024. Aerodome attributes its rapid growth to its advanced DFR system that is fully remote and automated, multi-station, and multi-drone. Agencies are using the Aerodome DFR system to accomplish an average 86-second response time to 911 calls, versus the average 7-8 minutes of many precincts reliant on traditional response measures alone. Additionally, with an average of two deaths per year from aviation-related crashes, plus widespread pollution from helicopters, DFR continues to offer a safer, more environmentally conscious supplement to police helicopters.
"Aerodome's willingness to engage with our staff on the unique characteristics of our jurisdiction, and future directions with which to grow DFR capabilities, has led to high levels of confidence between our Department and their company," said Lieutenant Robert Mitchell at Hawthorne Police Department. "We were happy to partner with Aerodome. They did what they said they were going to do, and more."
Aerodome has also secured a new exclusive partnership with Hextronics, a world leader in enabling drone autonomy. Hextronics is supplying a drone dock that is purpose-built for DFR with a rapid, automated battery-changing system, HVAC system, and the ability to operate remotely in any condition.
To learn more about Aerodome’s mission and products, additional information can be found at aerodome.com.
About Aerodome:
Based in Los Angeles, Aerodome is bringing the future of air support to public safety agencies. Using a fully integrated, automated, and remote software operating system, Aerodome equips agencies with highly advanced, 24/7 Drone-As-First-Responder (DFR) capabilities. The company has received funding from CRV, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Karman Ventures, and more.
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