HAVAIC Leads The First Tranche Of USD 475 K Funding In SA’s SafeTech Startup AURA
Johannesburg based AURA, a safetech startup, has secured USD 158 K from HAVAIC. The investment is part of the USD 475 K funding that the startup plans to raise in the coming few months. The startup has developed a product that helps users notify security companies in distressed situations via a mobile app.
Citing the rising crime rates & inefficiencies in the security and safety arrangements in South Africa; the startup has found a solution in leveraging technology to bridge the gap. Founded in 2016, it has devised a solution for the security industry players to offer a differentiated, value-added service to their clients.
With traditional methods of the security industry, an average response to an emergency situation can take anything between 10-30 minutes. As per AURA, with the deployment of their technology, they have been able to bring down the response time to 1-5 minutes. Another differentiator for the product from the traditional methods is that the user does not have to be stationary. The app picks up the location of the user and directs the response team to the GPS location.
The safetech startup, which operates on a B2B model, claims to have already reached a formal agreement with a number of high-profile corporate users and well-established consumer apps.
Warren Myers, Founder & CEO of AURA, describes the product as “affordable & accessible, on-demand security; anywhere, anytime,” and wants to expand the company’s supply footprints. The funding will be utilised in growing the core team and adding resources for the launch of new integration projects. The team plans to create a national collaborated response network, centered around smart technology combined with humans responding to emergencies autonomously.
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Ian Lessem, CEO, HAVAIC, comments, “We are incredibly excited to have invested in AURA, which is not only revolutionising how we access private security in South Africa but has a cloud-based tech platform that could completely change how the security sector works globally. True local innovation but a global potential.”
Cape Town based HAVAIC, which advises and invests in early-stage startups, has made its second investment for the year following that in Vula mobile in April.
