The dash camera industry is estimated to be in excess of $4B per year annually and is expected to balloon to $16B per year by the end of the decade. Rapid adoption within the rideshare community has ushered in a new era of accessibility for these cams that have gone from offering simple videos to now offering 4K recording, storage, and even integration of AI. Driver Technologies is an automotive safety tech platform that enables the use of any Android or iPhone as a robust dash cam. For consumers, Driver is available as a freemium model with cloud-based video storage, roadside assistance in addition to video recording as well as AI-powered safety indicators like driver distraction, spotting drowsiness, collision detection, and other warnings. Family plans start at $16 per month. Driver Technologies also offers enterprise solutions for fleet operators that provide macro insights, driver scoring, and coaching. While privacy concerns have emerged with driver-facing cameras, especially in the trucking industry, Driver has prioritized privacy; users are in complete control of their data and can choose to share with employers, insurers, and other relevant parties.
AlleyWatch caught up with Driver Technologies CEO and Cofounder Rashid Galadanci to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, which brings the company’s total funding raised to $16.3M, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We recently closed a $6 million strategic funding round co-led by New York-based investment firm IA Capital and CT Innovations, the venture capital arm of the State of Connecticut. Major insurers also participated in the round, including Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, State Auto Labs/Rev 1, and investors from The Social Entrepreneurs’ Fund, ID8 Investments, C2 Ventures, and Kapor Capital.
Tell us about the product or service that Driver Technologies offers.
Driver Technologies is an AI-based mobility tech company that delivers the products and services needed to keep everyone protected on the road. Our no. 1 rated mobile app, Driver, transforms a driver’s phone into a dash cam designed to improve road safety and make mobility technology more accessible. Driver allows users to video record their trip while receiving safety alerts such as forward collision and driver drowsiness and distraction warnings while also offering cloud-based video storage, roadside assistance services, coaching, and scoring capabilities. Users have full control over their data stored on the Driver Cloud and can choose what to share with interested parties such as employers, insurers, and family members.
What inspired the start of Driver Technologies?
I’m half Nigerian, and growing up my dad was a passenger in a car accident in Nigeria, which unfortunately was so severe that individuals in the other vehicle were killed. He and the driver survived, and he always credited that outcome to the fact that his friend was affluent enough and safety-focused enough to import a Volvo, which was incredibly rare in the region.
I gained a lifelong appreciation for the amazing benefits of advancing vehicle technology and, simultaneously, the painful inequality in access to safety capabilities that leads to more than 1 million deaths and 50 million serious injuries every year. After a lot of research, I saw that this was not just an emerging market or low-income community issue but rather something that unfairly impacts most of the world, which does not have access to a brand new vehicle. There’s also a significant lack of data on roads and road safety despite the fact that vehicles are the only non-disease, top ten cause of death globally. The mission of making roads safe and accessible for everyone worldwide led to the start of Driver Technologies.
How is Driver Technologies different?
The Driver app is currently one of the only non-hardware solution dash cam and safety alert systems available on the market to consumers and fleets that allows users to record video trips while also preserving their privacy based on what information the driver wants to share with their employer, family or insurance company.
What market does Driver Technologies target and how big is it?
Driver Technologies has users in more than 170 countries, as we offer services internationally for all Android and iOS-compatible smartphones. We also work nicely with existing hardware solutions as our Driver Cloud can be utilized with any device/data source, and we work with safety-focused partners who want to understand road risks globally. Lastly, we are now expanding to OEM in-vehicle platforms like TomTom’s Digital Cockpit and Google Automotive Services.
What’s your business model?
We currently offer a subscription-based model for premium access to our app, allowing users to video record their trip while receiving safety alerts such as forward collision, driver drowsiness and distraction warnings. We also offer cloud-based video storage, roadside assistance services via HONK, gas rewards via GasBuddy, coaching and scoring capabilities. Additionally, we offer an enterprise solution customized for fleets, including our premium features, integrations with third-party fleet management systems like Geotab or Fleetr, and an organizational-level fleet view to observe trends across the entire fleet.
How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?
As soon as we started to see the storm cloud gathering, our team continued our business development efforts but with an understanding that new deals would take longer to execute in this market environment. We turned more effort towards deepening our value to our existing clients where there is already a working relationship to help support and grow those accounts.
From a planning and fundraising standpoint, we have been ensuring our projections and strategies don’t rely on closing wildly sizable and profitable deals, as we have found that large institutions are more risk-averse and have a longer sales cycle in a market downturn. Over the years, we’ve also found that partnering with smaller institutions like other insurtechs and fleets has helped us build revenue while nurturing relationships with larger companies for long-term projects.
What was the funding process like?
The funding process was challenging in a way I hadn’t experienced in the last eight years of working closely with investors. Every venture capital firm we connected with was still interested in our company, but, quite rightfully, their primary objective was to focus on their existing portfolio and how to protect those investments.
My advice to other founders is to look at the relationships you’ve already started to build. Part of our success was that we met our latest new investors well before the economic downturn and had been working on getting to know each other throughout the period. We know many venture capital funds will still be exploring new deals during this time but not moving forward with funding as many deals as quickly as before, so I strongly recommend focusing on relationship-building.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
When we founded Driver in 2018, the biggest challenge was that many investors were focused on wanting to invest in futuristic automotive technologies like flying cars instead of immediate, relevant technology like the Driver app that people can set up in their vehicles today.
This funding round was challenging in a different way because of the focus on the instability in the market and the fact that many venture capital firms are focusing on their own portfolio companies. The current economic climate has served as a strategic reflection period for venture capital firms as they evaluate their funding strategies and due diligence processes.
This funding round was challenging in a different way because of the focus on the instability in the market and the fact that many venture capital firms are focusing on their own portfolio companies. The current economic climate has served as a strategic reflection period for venture capital firms as they evaluate their funding strategies and due diligence processes.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
One of the main factors that led to investors writing us a check is our products and services are recession-proof, as consumers and fleets will continue to need automotive safety features that protect them while on the road. The average age of a car on the road today is more than 12.5 years old, and during tough economic times, many people aren’t purchasing new vehicles. They still want solutions to keep them safe. On a personal, fleet and insurance level, cost savings, risk management, careful underwriting and fraud detection suddenly become much more critical than just growth and revenue. Our products and services are flexible, low cost, accident-preventing and have been proven to make drivers better and safer almost immediately.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
In the next six months, we will announce multiple partnerships with insurance, automotive and municipalities nationwide to help make roads safer. We also plan to expand our enterprise solution internationally across Latin America and Australia.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Fundraising will take three times longer than it traditionally has, so start building relationships now instead of waiting until you might need it.
If you have the luxury of having significant amounts of revenue coming in, ensure you’re protecting those clients and the source of that revenue.
As a founder, it’s challenging to do, but make the cuts you don’t want to make as soon as possible. Many founders I’ve spoken with realize they must make the cuts anyway and wish they had the 3 to 9 months of extra capital sooner.
Share this conservative plan with your investors as soon as possible, so you can work together to unlock whatever additional capital you’ll need with them, if available, at reasonable terms when you have as much leverage as possible.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Over the next few months, we look forward to fueling the continued adoption of our AI-powered dash cam and safety alert app, Driver, into insurance-backed programs for commercial and personal drivers. We’re also working on partnerships with insurance, automotive and municipal partners working to enhance road safety.
What’s your favorite summer destination in and around the city?
My favorite summer destination is actually being in New York City on the weekend when everyone else leaves to go to other destinations, and the city can feel like your own.
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- Source: https://www.alleywatch.com/2023/06/driver-technologies-ai-hardware-free-dash-cam-mobile-phone-fleet-consumer-passenger-rashid-galadanci/
