Silicon Valley-based Knightscope has reportedly secured $10 million through its “mini-IPO” Reg A+ equity crowdfunding campaign on SeedInvest. The initiative was launched earlier this year and is seeking $20 million as part of its Series M efforts. It has now been dubbed the most successful campaign on the funding portal.
As previously reported, the company’s “robo cob” technology ultimately aims to reduce crime and violence through a “fusion of robotics, predictive analytics and collaborative social engagement utilized to predict and prevent crime.” The robots have been seen mainly in California across over ten cities, including Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Jose, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, North Hollywood, San Bernardino, and Santa Clara. The company is planning a nationwide rollout this year.
Speaking about the campaign’s success so far, William Santana Li, chairman and chief executive officer, Knightscope, stated:
“Through the Reg A+ ‘mini-IPO’ process we have been able to fundraise, connect with potential clients, recruit and build the brand – all at the same time. And now, we have 3,000+ backers all across the country rooting for us, opening doors and generally being extremely supportive as we rollout out our autonomous security robots nationwide.”
SeedInvest has reportedly helped more than 200 companies raise around $80 million since its inception in 2012 and has already raised over $25 million of investment volume so far in 2017. Initially, the crowdfunding platform worked with just accredited investors on more traditional fundraisers but recently opened-up its platform more broadly once the final pieces of the JOBS Act kicked-in. Last year, SeedInvest began to enable more established startups to raise larger growth rounds online through Reg A+ and Knightscope is now the first to surpass $10 million raised.
Ryan Feit, CEO and Co-Founder of SeedInvest, added:
“In addition to utilizing online fundraising to raise capital more efficiently, companies are realizing a number of additional gains from equity crowdfunding. Our data suggests that by building an army of loyal investors, companies will benefit from those same investors spending 50% more and referring twice as many customers.”
Knightscope still has almost two months left until the campaign closes, ending on October 10th.
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