Insurance and financial services group Nationwide invested an undisclosed amount in US-based security system provider Deep Sentinel on Tuesday to increase its series A round to $24m.
Venture capital firms Shasta Ventures, Lux Capital and UP2398 also participated in the round along with Bezos Expeditions, the investment vehicle for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The four had supplied the $7.4m that made up its first close in 2017.
Deep Sentinel has built a security offering that combines artificial intelligence-equipped cameras with live guards at the company’s command centre who can assess any possible threat flagged up by the system and take appropriate action.
The funding was announced in tandem with the launch of the company’s latest offering, Deep Sentinel for Business, which is intended to help small and medium-sized businesses secure their premises after hours and prevent burglary or vandalism.
Tony Fenton, vice-president of commercial underwriting and product for Nationwide, said: “Technology and protection products like Deep Sentinel support small business owners in safeguarding their livelihood, which is critical to operational success.
“Nationwide is proud to have spent the last 90 years empowering and protecting small business owners, which aligns well with the capabilities of Deep Sentinel.”