BRINC, an emerging leader in the public safety drone market, has announced a $25 million Series A funding round.  Financing was led by Index Ventures with participation from Sam Altman, Tusk Venture Partners, Jeff Weiner’s Next Play Ventures, Dylan Field, Elad Gil, Patrick Spence, Alex Wang, and former Acting Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan. BRINC previously raised a seed round of $2.25M led by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI.

BRINC’s Lemur series drones were developed in response to the tragic rise in mass shooter events like the Mandalay Bay shooting in founder Blake Resnick’s home town.   The Lemur fills a very specific need in the public safety drone market, flying inside of structures using LiDAR technology  – functioning without GPS.  BRINC’s drones are a force multiplier for SWAT team operations, providing two-way communications and eyes and ears inside of a suspect structure: a tool that demonstrably works to keep both suspects and officers safe.

The public safety drone market is estimated at over $1Billion globally.  BRINC’s purpose-built drone is getting major traction in the market – reaching global customers and delivering hundreds of drones now.

“BRINC was built with deep customer empathy and a real-world understanding of the situations faced by first responders…” said Erin Price-Wright, Principal, Index Ventures.  “We think that BRINC’s commitment to never build lethal drones sets them apart in the industry.  Blake and his team are committed to values and ethics that forge public trust among their customers and communities.”  Price-Wright joined BRINC’s Board of Directors.

“After watching the response to the Oct. 1 [Mandalay Bay] mass shooting, I felt a real call to serve and create something that would have a material impact and keep people safe.  In the six months since we started selling, our team has seen overwhelming demand and this new funding will help us accelerate hiring to scale and support rapid growth,” said Blake Resnick, CEO and founder of BRINC.

BRINC’s announcement of the funding round provides some insight into future plans.  “Looking ahead, BRINC is building a system designed to respond to emergencies in seconds and succeed the police helicopter.  This system would create a distributed network of drones in multiple locations to aid first responders when lives are at risk.  In addition, BRINC is developing drones for industrial use cases that are dangerous for people.”