Why We Invested in Aerodome
Click on image above to see Aerodome in action.
It was not my intention when I started Rise Together Ventures to begin a drone investment fund, but weirdly I keep falling in love with drone companies…first DroneDeploy, then Saildrone, and now a “drone as a first responder” company called Aerodome.
Aerodome is focused on enhancing emergency response capabilities of public safety agencies such as Police and Fire Departments through the use of advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) - i.e. drones. It operates a network of strategically located stations equipped with fleets of drones and automatically launches the nearest one to get a first view of potential problem areas, with the goal of cutting emergency response time significantly whilst also cutting costs (note that they don’t build the drones themselves, they purchase those - their secret sauce is in their tech).
This is an earlier-stage investment, and as such I care most about two things: market and founder(s) profile.
Market: Aerodome is a first mover in the nascent DFR space, at exactly the right time. The drone public safety market, specifically the “drone as a first responder” (DFR) space, is nascent, with limited players in the space. Recent regulatory changes allowing for a “beyond visual line of sight” waiver (which allow pilots to fly missions from off-site locations), a shortage in the police force, and improved drone hardware make this the moment for the DFR market. Aerodome has developed an integrated solution with which it can approach public safety agencies with a one-stop shop solution that allows them to improve speed and efficiency around first response. Additionally, the police defense budget is typically the largest line item on a city balance sheet, creating ample opportunity for a new solution to be mass adopted. We must believe that DFR is the future of policing.
Founders: Co-founders Rahul Sidhu and Kenaniah Cerny have deep domain expertise and relationships in the industries they serve - they worked together on their last startup, SPIDR Tech, a software application to facilitate community support and engagement for public agencies, which they sold to private equity in 2021. With 15 years of experience in police, fire and EMT, Rahul, knows this industry inside and out. Rahul is particularly commercial and inherently gifted at sales - valuable for both selling into police departments, but also fundraising.
Albeit Aerodome is still in the early innings, they are showing that their responses are 80% faster - agencies leveraging Aerodome technology accomplish, on average, an 86-second response time compared to the typical 7–8 minute response time to most 911 calls.
Aerodome is also a safer, greener, more efficient, more effective, and more affordable option than helicopters. Particularly for understaffed police departments or ones that can’t afford a helicopter fleet, the ROI of partnering with Aerodome is clear. I am inspired by this industry mover who is re-imagining what the future of the police force looks like.
Rise Together Ventures is proud to join lead investors Saar Gur and Veronica Orellana from Charles River Ventures, in addition to a16z and 2048 Ventures, in Aerodome’s Series A round, announced here.