GM Ventures today announced its participation in the $40 million Series B funding round for RapidDeploy, a public safety technology company working to accelerate Next Generation 911.
This investment will enable RapidDeploy to help improve the public safety community’s situational awareness with a cloud-native, data-driven solution. The announcement underscores General Motors and OnStar’s commitment to working with the public safety community to support and accelerate Next Generation 911 technology adoption and to advance efforts to keep communities safer.
Earlier this year, OnStar and RapidDeploy launched a first-of-its-kind program to supply every 911 call center in California with OnStar’s Automatic Crash Response1 notifications. Using built-in sensors on vehicles with an active OnStar service plan, OnStar Automatic Crash Response notifications can:
- Help detect a moderate-to-severe crash and send notifications directly to 911 Centers via RapidDeploy RadiusPlus maps.
- Deploy without having to rely on verbal relay of information, including the location, make and model of the vehicle and available crash details.
- Indicate the probability of severe injury and whether the vehicle involved in a crash is electric, providing first responders with information they need to respond safely, and quickly rescue occupants, when applicable.
When a moderate-to-severe crash is detected, OnStar Automatic Crash Response can also automatically connect to a specially-trained Emergency-Certified Advisor2, who can offer help if a member is involved in a crash. OnStar Emergency-Certified Advisors are Emergency-Medical-Dispatch-certified and can provide medical assistance until help arrives, ensuring members will not face the emergency alone.
Today’s investment will accelerate the work of RapidDeploy and OnStar in 911 Centers across jurisdictions within the United States.
“For 25 years, OnStar has served as a leader in safety and security services, providing help to our members in times of need. We value our continued work with RapidDeploy and look forward to scaling this important program within the U.S.,” said Catherine Bishop, senior manager, OnStar Emergency Services. “This latest milestone in our collaboration with RapidDeploy demonstrates OnStar’s commitment to keeping members and first responders safe during emergencies and supporting new innovations to advance Next Generation 911 initiatives.”
“911 centers should not have to pay for critical data needed to save lives,” said Steven Raucher, co-founder and CEO of RapidDeploy. “At RapidDeploy, we are committed to establishing cloud-based, data-driven integrations at no cost to public safety or to the communities we serve. Working with General Motors’ OnStar helps enable our open ecosystem designed to improve public safety workflows.”
“The increased availability and speed of incident data into the hands of responders is a game-changing improvement,” said Deputy Chief Tom Clemo of the Santa Monica Fire Department in California. “Having as much information as possible as we respond to an incident is paramount to not only providing the best emergency services we can, but also to improving responder incident awareness and safety. We owe it to our communities and to our responders to leverage technology so that it improves our services and safety, and the work that OnStar and RapidDeploy are implementing certainly helps us to get there.”
SOURCE: General Motors
