Knightscope, a US-based autonomous security technology developer backed by imaging product manufacturer Konica Minolta, revealed on Thursday it plans to raise up to $50m in series S funding.
The company will issue 6.25 million shares priced at $8.00 each through the round, which will be structured as a preferred stock offering.
Founded in 2013, Knightscope has created security robots that are able to autonomously detect, deter and report crime in pre-defined environments such as shopping centres, parking lots, stadiums and office buildings.
The company received $20m in a regulation A-plus offering on equity crowdfunding platform SeedInvest, alongside $5m in private placements from investors including Konica Minolta in January 2018.
Knightscope had previously secured more than $14m in capital from backers such as NTT Docomo Ventures, a subsidiary of mobile carrier NTT Docomo, which took part in a $1.5m seed round in 2013 that included SeedInvest and angel investor Kishore Ganji.
NTT Docomo Ventures returned the following year to contribute to a $5.2m funding round for the company that included Konica Minolta and manufacturing services provider Flex.
Konica Minolta then injected another $1m in Knightscope in June 2017, witha further $2m to come dependent on milestones, though it is unclear whether the additional funding was provided.
William Santana Li, chairman and chief executive of Knightscope, said: “Self-driving technology, robotics and artificial intelligence are bringing positive and material change to the world.
“Knightscope’s fully autonomous security robots have already logged numerous crime-fighting wins for clients across the country utilising a unique combination of these technologies.
“We look forward to further scaling our operations nationwide with an eye towards achieving profitability.”
– Image courtesy of Knightscope, Inc.