Carbyne, a next-generation provider of public safety communications, announced that it has secured an investment from AT&T Ventures. AT&T invested along with existing investors Cox Enterprises (through Socium Ventures), Hanaco Growth, GMR International., former CIA Director General David Petraeus, General Global Capital, and Material V. This investment follows a successful launch of the relationship between AT&T and Carbyne, which was revealed in June.
The Public Safety market has seen considerable investment as companies strive to bring innovation to a sector experiencing positive macro trends in funding. This industry is becoming increasingly receptive to cloud-native technologies, which enable them to capture AI’s rapidly growing value. Carbyne has a vision to disrupt the multi-billion-dollar emergency services industry by becoming the trusted central hub of mission-critical communications powered by AI-based innovation and data ownership.
Cloud-native emergency call handling offers many advantages, including affordability, agility, redundancy, and security. It also enables the integration of AI-based capabilities like real-time call translation and call triaging, which are critical features that allow Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) to quickly handle calls in multiple languages and prioritize incoming calls based on urgency.
AT&T aims to provide these capabilities to its customer base by working with Carbyne, which has set a long-term goal of reducing dispatch time by up to 50%. And AT&T is focused on reselling two distinct Carbyne offerings intended for emergency call takers:
1.) Carbyne APEX is a unified emergency call management solution designed to simplify emergency response by consolidating several AI-based and rich media data points into a single platform. By including video, photos, geolocation, AI-based features like audio translation, and emergency call triage, APEX provides call takers with all the information they need, enabling them to focus on addressing the emergency at hand rather than struggling with complex technology. This cloud-native and i3-compliant platform is user-friendly and seamlessly integrates with existing infrastructure, ensuring that call takers can manage and respond to emergencies while minimizing the learning curve often associated with new technology.
2.) Carbyne Universe provides a versatile over-the-top (OTT) solution that enables access to AI-based and rich media functionality without disrupting existing contractual agreements.
Designed to function within any environment, Carbyne Universe provides PSAPs with valuable data like video, photos, and geolocation, enhancing their decision-making capabilities and response efficiency. This solution ensures that PSAPs are able to benefit from advanced emergency call management and related mapping features before completing their current contracts or undertaking significant infrastructural changes.
KEY QUOTES:
“In 2023, Carbyne experienced transformative growth in the U.S. Our success is not just in numbers; we’ve actively shaped the future of emergency services. As we transition into 2024, we will build upon this momentum by working alongside innovative providers like AT&T.”
“We are incredibly excited to strengthen our relationship with AT&T, a company with a tremendous footprint dedicated to bringing innovation to the public safety market. We see AT&T’s investment as an additional vote of confidence in Carbyne. With AT&T, we have the opportunity to distribute our innovative products on a significantly larger scale while strategically working on the next Carbyne products. More to come.”
– Amir Elichai, Carbyne CEO
“AT&T Ventures is investing in disruptive companies that are developing advanced connectivity solutions to drive innovation forward. We are excited about our relationship with Carbyne and their cloud-native call-handling solution. We recognize the importance of innovation in supporting emergency response systems to help safeguard lives and communities.”
– Vikram Taneja, Head of AT&T Ventures
“The best investments deliver instant solutions to everyday challenges — and that’s exactly what Carbyne does. Streamlining communications at critical moments saves lives. That makes a huge difference for people, families, and communities as a whole. We’re looking forward to helping Carbyne continue to grow, scale, and evolve as a business so that they can make an even bigger impact in the future.”
– Andrew Davis, Managing Partner, Socium Ventures
