Responder Corp Announces Additions to its Labs Team September 6, 2018 Matt Kuivinen & Rob Farmer bring deep industry experience, leadership, and a commitment to drive innovation to the front lines of public safety   West Palm Beach, FL – Responder Corp, LLC welcomes the addition of two leaders in the public safety community; Matt Kuivinen as Vice President of Agency Relations and Rob Farmer as Vice President of Industry Partnerships. Matt and Rob will be critical in the support of Responder Corp’s commitment to enable entrepreneurs and empower first responders. “We’re excited by the growth of our team with passionate and high-integrity individuals that believe in our mission and understand our vision for the future,” said Nathanial Wish, Co-Founder & CEO of Responder Corp. “Matt and Rob intimately understand the commitment required to successfully innovate in the public safety industry, we look forward to learning from their experience and growing with their expertise,” said Bryce Stirton, Co-Founder & President of Responder Corp. Matt Kuivinen Matt comes to Responder Corp with over 20 years in public service. Matt began his career as an EMT in New Orleans, later transitioned into Emergency Management, and then moved into law enforcement becoming a member of the Foreign Service. As a Special Agent with the U.S. Department of State, Matt managed an immense criminal investigations portfolio and served on countless dignitary protection teams both domestically and overseas. Matt served tours in Afghanistan and Yemen in the diplomatic corps where he supervised a large workforce, and regularly collaborated with various international senior public safety and military officials including in the role of senior law enforcement representative and security advisor to the U.S. Ambassador, the Emergency Action Committee, and the embassy’s Law Enforcement Working Group. After nearly a decade in the Foreign Service, Matt started his own government contract and security consulting business, continuing to serve the U.S. government as a credentialed investigator. “Even after leaving a position in public safety, it never truly leaves you, and I am honored to stay connected to this amazing community through Responder Corp where we will provide awareness and access to cutting-edge public safety tech to help agencies better serve their teams and their community.” Rob Farmer Rob Farmer has served for more than 30 years in Fire, EMS and Emergency Management, with 15 of those years in executive-level leadership roles. After spending 14 years as career firefighter/paramedic on a suburban fire department, and nearly a decade as the Chief of a countywide EMS agency, both in central Ohio, he moved to SW Florida to serve as a countywide Director of Public Safety (EMS, EM & communications) in a Gulf-coastal community. He currently serves as a Commissioner for the American College of Paramedic Executives. “I am honored and privileged to join the team at Responder. The Responder Corp platform provides an unprecedented opportunity for emerging technologies to integrate easily into the public safety community. A more efficient workspace, and more importantly a safer workplace, will be the immediate result for first responders across the globe.” ### Responder Corp supports entrepreneurs working to innovate public safety. Our mission is to deliver the tools and technology first responders need to be safe, secure and effective on the job. We are a team of first responders, innovators and investors united by a passion to support those who keep our communities safe. We work to accomplish this mission with a comprehensive platform designed to support a healthy ecosystem of innovation for the public safety industry. If you’re a first responder, entrepreneur, corporation, foundation or agency that wants to support innovation in public safety, please connect and join our mission. Further Information Responder Corp Media Contact: Elise Finger, 877-966-9455 x 701 elise@respondercorp.com #respondercorp #responderxlabs #responderventures

AWS & Responder Corp Announce the Launch of ResponderXLabs  August 7, 2018 ResponderXLabs is an innovation program that brings industry together to enable cutting-edge technology and empower first responders LAS VEGAS, NV – Technology has long been mission critical for public safety. However, today, more than ever, agencies are turning to innovation to help solve increasingly complex challenges. ResponderXLabs was built to support the growing importance of technology for public safety. By bringing together industry, the Program provides enablement resources to entrepreneurs to give cutting-edge technology an easier path to market and first responders better access to the solutions they need. WEBSITE In order to align incentives, and meet the needs of a diverse ecosystem, Participants in the Program are divided into three components; entrepreneurs, public safety agencies and industry. For Entrepreneurs The Program gives entrepreneurs resources to overcome and excel through the unique challenges faced in the public safety industry. “Far too often we see top technology avoid or exit the public safety industry due to inefficiencies and barriers. ResponderXLabs helps the entrepreneurs behind those technologies better navigate the path to market in public safety.” Said Bryce Stirton, Responder Corp Co-Founder & President and ResponderXLabs Board Member. “We’ve brought industry together to build a clear path for entrepreneurs to commercialize their solutions in the rapidly growing public safety technology market.” For Agencies The Program provides public safety agencies with support to pinpoint technology needs, identify solutions, streamline adoption and enable a successful deployment. “As an active deputy, I see first hand the technology deficiencies first responders overcome on a daily basis”, said Nathanial Wish, Responder Corp Co-Founder & CEO and ResponderXLabs Board Member.  “As an active investor in the industry, I see first hand the inefficiencies in the innovation cycle that keeps that needed technology out of the field. ResponderXLabs is bringing industry together in a way that aligns incentives, so we can eliminate the inefficiencies and focus on delivering the best solutions to support first responders.” For Industry The Program provides industry leaders with curated access and opportunities to leverage cutting-edge technology. “ResponderXLabs provides a new mechanism for established companies to partner with startups and public safety agencies to incubate, validate and scale innovation in the public safety market – creating a funnel of opportunity for the enterprises that embrace it”, says Dustin Haisler, Chief Innovation Officer for e.Republic & ResponderXLabs Board Member. Click to watch the ResponderXLabs Launch Video. The formal announcement for the launch of ResponderXLabs will be made at APCO on Tuesday, August the 7th, during the 2:45pm PT Session “Supporting a Healthy Ecosystem of Innovation”. Summary: ResponderXLabs is a first-of-its-kind program, enabling and showcasing cutting-edge technology specifically curated to solve first responder’s needs. The Program provides enablement resources built by successful entrepreneurs, experienced agency leaders, and first responders specifically designed to help innovators overcome the unique challenges faced when taking a new product to the public safety market. The Program helps public safety agencies leverage innovation by identifying needs and curating technology that can better serve their agency. Through proprietary access to entrepreneurs and opportunities, the Program enables industry to enhance product offerings. GET STARTED ### Responder supports entrepreneurs working to innovate public safety. Our mission is to deliver the tools and technology first responders need to be safe, secure and effective on the job. We are a team of first responders, innovators and investors united by a passion to support those who keep our communities safe. We work to accomplish this mission with a comprehensive platform designed to support a healthy ecosystem of innovation for the public safety industry. If you’re a first responder, entrepreneur, corporation, foundation or agency that wants to support innovation in public safety, please connect and join our mission. Further Information Responder Corp Media Contact: Elise Finger, ​877-966-9455 x 701 Elise@respondercorp.com

AWS Public Sector Summit: The Public Safety Perspective

 

Nate and I spent last week in DC as first-time attendees at the AWS’s Public Sector Summit. We attend many events, but they’re almost exclusively public safety focused. So this one stood out to us for a number of reasons, and we felt compelled to share with the rest of the public safety industry. Bottomline, we have a lot be excited about for the future of cloud-enabled innovation to support first responders.

A technology shift unlike any other in our lifetime

A diverse mix of government leaders, entrepreneurs, and corporate stakeholders made up a majority of the 14,000+ attendees that were on hand to see the future of cloud-enabled technology, a game changer AWS calls “a technology shift unlike any other in our lifetime.”  It certainly wasn’t a surprise for us to see an AWS event well attended, but it was surprising to hear how quickly the Summit has risen to this level of popularity. According to keynote speaker and Vice President Teresa Carlson, the Summit was started just five years earlier with a small group in a rented hotel conference center. It’s a reflection of the massive growth AWS itself has seen, again according to Teresa Carlson, AWS is the fastest company ever to reach $10 billion in sales.

But where was public safety?

Given this Summit was public sector only, their focus was on AWS government customers and a broad mix at that. We were pleasantly surprised at how much state and local government was represented in attendance and content with the panel sessions. We were disappointed however to see little attendance and focus on public safety, all this despite active effort from AWS to promote the industry.

AWS has a strong and active team supporting entrepreneurs with a focus on first responder technology. Public safety’s Utility Inc. was selected as a 2018 winner of the AWS “Partners in Innovation” Award; yet, we didn’t see much participation or presence at the event from the public safety community relative to other areas of local government. More than anything we think this is a reflection of just how far cloud technology still has to go in the industry.  An IACP survey found that just 16 percent of law enforcement agencies currently deploy cloud computing for criminal justice data, and only 38 percent are planning to implement the solution in the near future. Meanwhile, well-funded and technology advanced agencies like the NSA are announcing intentions to move “all-in” on the cloud.

Cloud still has a long ways to go in public safety, and that’s something to be excited about  

This conference was not about flashy consumer technology far outside the budget of the average police agency. For the most part, the Conference wasn’t about wild ideas that may come to fruition some unknown day in the future. It was about real ways real agencies are leveraging innovation for positive change, today.

We feel public safety’s often negative reputation as late technology adopters is largely an unfair characterization. When you’re dealing with mission-critical equipment, where the lives first responders and citizens could be on the line, it’s only appropriate you have misgivings about new ideas and disruption. As a result, the industry has a higher threshold to move forward with new technology. The rule we stress to entrepreneurs is that public safety buyers want to see it, they don’t want to hear about it; ‘show me, don’t tell me.’

We’ve long heard about the benefits cloud will provide for the public safety industry, last week, we saw it in action.   

Seeing the technology applied successfully in action at the local government level gives us confidence the broader the public safety industry will be soon to follow.

Moving from Why? To How? To What?

This year, we’ve seen a significant shift in the way the general public safety public discusses cloud technology. The conversation has moved from ‘why should we change?’, ‘to how can we change?’. And that’s a big deal. Because the next question will be ‘what can we do now that we’ve changed?’ And we’ve long believed the answer to that question will redefine the industry.

All 10 of our portfolio companies leverage the cloud, and this isn’t by coincidence. Technology has been a central piece of our investment thesis from the start. We believe the cloud has the power to solve one of the industries’ biggest technology hurdles (fragmentation) and will enable widespread adoption. Cloud can allow even the smallest agencies in the most remote corners of our country access to cutting-edge technology. That’s an incredible breakthrough we’re proud to support.

The key is accessibility

By removing upfront hardware costs and enabling remote installation, integration, and maintenance, cloud gives agencies of all sizes and location access to technology previously they couldn’t even identify, much less afford. And vice versa; without the need to travel and manage expensive upfront costs, entrepreneurs are better able to engage with smaller agencies to deploy their solutions. The increased accessibility enabled by cloud technology can help deliver entrepreneurial solutions at a scale previously unseen in the industry.

Cloud will enable cost savings and ease of deployment that can give even the smallest public safety agencies access to cutting-edge, entrepreneur-driven, technology – a first for the industry.

Progress is here is for public safety

Last week we saw first hand the powerful solutions cloud technology can enable for local government.  While public safety played a minor role in that showcase, we’re highly optimistic that role is going to increase significantly in the near future. We work every day with an entrepreneurial community building impactful technology for first responders. It’s time for the rest of the industry to see these solutions in action. The cloud is going to help make that possible.

We look forward to seeing public safety’s increased presence showcasing progress in innovation at future events like the AWS Public Sector Summit.

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Bryce Stirton
President, Responder Corp, LLC
LinkedIn

Responder Ventures is a venture capital firm formed to identify, invest in, and manage a portfolio of technology companies that provide innovative products and solutions to the public safety sector.

Responder aims to identify and support the top technologies available to assist our first responder partners within law enforcement, EMS, fire safety and military.

We invest through a disciplined institutional process designed to identify and structure transactions that maximize value for both parties. Responder operates as an active investor, supporting management teams with a differentiated set of capabilities and a broad network to enhance and add value to every portfolio company.