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Flock Safetyand one of its long - time VCs , Bedrock Capital , announcedThursday that the startup raised a invigorated $ 275 million at a $ 7.5 billion rating .
Flock makes computer visual modality - enable television surveillance engineering science used by law enforcement as well as businesses , property direction companies , and so on . It ’s well known for itsautomatic permit denture identification tech , but Flock also makes gunfire spotting tech marketed to shoal , and recentlyacquired public safety monotone ship’s company Aerodome .
Flock was founded in 2017 and went through Y Combinator that same twelvemonth . outgrowth explode in the subsequent year . Flock crossed over $ 300 million in annual recurring revenue last year , which is 70 % year - over - year increase , Flock spokesperson Holly Beilin told TechCrunch .
The Atlanta - based inauguration has now raised over $ 950 million in entire financial support , grant to PitchBook datum , and its last evaluation a year ago was $ 4.8 billion . paying back investor Andreessen Horowitz , Greenoaks , Meritech Capital , Matrix Partners , and Y Combinator participated in this unit of ammunition .
Given that it makes surveillance tech , Flock has unsurprisingly had its share of tilt . For illustration , theACLU cited concerns with Flockover the kind of mass surveillance it enables and , a yr ago , urged the caller to allow independent review of its products . Privacy counsellor in Norfolk , Virginiaare currently suingto kibosh Flock from being deploy there .
Flock is also facing a unlawful termination lawsuit from a sitting mayor of a pocket-sized California township , as TechCrunch recently reported .
That sound out , Flock has been a VC darling for years .
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For case , Bedrock ’s founder , Geoff Lewis , narrate how he flew to Atlanta in 2018 to tap Flock atomic number 27 - laminitis Garrett Langley ( pictured above ) to take a $ 10 million Series A-1 , one of the first checks from Lewis ’ new firm . But Langley had just closed Flock ’s Series A.
That pot was a “ totally insane ” $ 60 million valuation , asBedrock described it — about triple the valuation of the A round just a few months to begin with . Langley strike the money — and has gone on to take more than $ 164 million in investments from Bedrock since .
By the room , Lewis , who hail from Founders Fund , now has other openhanded epithet in Bedrock ’s portfolio , like OpenAI , Rippling , andMach Industries .
Meanwhile , a16z ’s American Dynamism fund lead , David Ulevitch , direct other circle for Flock . “ Beyond protect property , Flock Safety is literally avail to write lives , ” Ulevitch and a16z outgrowth VC David Georgeopinedin 2021 .
YC ’s Garry Tan took to LinkedIn justa few months agoto applaud the winner pace Flock take it has achieved in fighting criminal offence . But it ’s Flock ’s tax income outgrowth , in addition to its public safety products , that ’s caused investors to “ bear on to repeat and triple down on Flock , ” Beilin read .
