GreatPoint Ventures and Samsung NEXT have invested $12m in a Series A round in RapidDeploy, a South African provider of cloud-based software for public safety officials that reduces emergency response times and improve situational awareness.

Ray Lane, Managing Partner at GreatPoint Ventures and former President and COO of Oracle, will join RapidDeploy’s Board of Directors. 

“We are thrilled to join the RapidDeploy team.  Modernizing the first-responder ecosystem with cloud-based dispatch technologies will enable public safety organizations to perform faster and seamlessly across jurisdictions,” said Lane.

“Together with RapidDeploy, Samsung is building the first-responder technology of the future,” said Raymond Liao, VP and Ventures Managing Director at Samsung NEXT. 

 “We are excited about RapidDeploy’s products and first-responder culture, which complement Samsung’s end-to-end solution to public safety including smart devices and public safety LTE infrastructure demanded by emergency service providers.”

RapidDeploy uses modern cloud-based technology that solves key challenges faced by emergency service providers who often are slowed down by legacy infrastructure. 

RapidDeploy’s Cloud Aided Dispatch technology is more reliable, faster to deploy, more cost-effective, and richer in interfaces and features than outdated, on-premise computer-aided dispatch software.

Last August, AT&T announced that it was teaming up with RapidDeploy to provide 9-1-1 centers access to RapidDeploy’s cloud-based platform. 

Since then, RapidDeploy has assembled a core team of US-based public-safety industry leaders who are passionate to drive innovation and improve emergency communications, and opened its global headquarters in downtown Austin, TX, earlier this year.

“We are excited to partner with seasoned technology investors who have proven experience in scaling software and technology,” said Steven Raucher, RapidDeploy CEO and co-founder. “RapidDeploy is on a mission to democratize public safety and will now enter a new stage of growth.”