Firefly raises $20M to turn cameras and radios into AI safety systems
What's the deal? FireflyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has emerged from stealth with a $20 million Series A led by Definition CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, with participation from BoxGroup and existing backer Susa Ventures. The company builds physical AI products aimed at modernising safety technology across education, healthcare, and enterprise organisations.
What's the endgame? Firefly is developing a platform that combines purpose-built hardware, AI software, and existing infrastructure such as cameras and radios into a single system. The goal is to move safety tools beyond recording or signalling events toward technology that detects incidents and coordinates responses in real time.
Who's behind it? Co-founders James Batt Buckley and Alex Penn started Firefly in 2024. Buckley previously scaled Verkada's Alarms business; Penn, an MIT graduate, spent nearly a decade at Apple leading engineering teams.
Where it stands: Firefly is already deployed at Front Range Community College, Colorado's largest community college, uniting information from three campuses into one system for its safety teams. BoxGroup's investment is its third in the company, while Susa Ventures led the seed round.
What's next? The funding will support new physical AI products, grow the engineering and machine learning teams, build out go-to-market, and expand into healthcare and enterprise customers.
"Firefly is building the central nervous system for physical safety, bringing together specialized hardware, existing data, and coordinated action into a single platform," said Definition Capital's Teddy Citrin.
The signal: The round fits a broader push to bring AI into safety-critical physical settings, though much of that investment has focused on robots rather than emergency response. Firefly's distinction is coordinating human responders across cameras, sensors, and communications, rather than simply flagging hazards. Its significance will hinge on proving reliable response improvements and expanding beyond campuses.
Read more: pulse2.com, Axios
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
