Coram AI: $35 Million to Revolutionize Security with AI

Coram AI, an innovative startup based in the Bay Area, recently raised $35 million in a Series B funding round. This new investment brings the company's total funding to $66 million. The round was co-led by Ansa Capital and Battery Ventures, with participation from UP.Partners, 8VC, and Mosaic Ventures. Although the company's valuation has not been disclosed, Coram AI already has a significant presence with over 1,500 sites using its technology, including Hershey's Ice Cream, Lakepointe Church in Dallas, and the decluttering company 1-800-GOT-JUNK?.

Founded in 2022 by Ashesh Jain and Peter Ondruska, Coram AI specializes in enhancing physical security through artificial intelligence. The company connects security cameras, badge readers, visitor logs, and emergency systems to provide an integrated solution. This approach allows security teams to detect incidents and respond more quickly, transforming traditional security cameras into proactive tools.

The physical AI sector, in which Coram operates, is experiencing rapid growth. According to PitchBook, global venture capital investments in robotics and physical AI have increased from $4 billion in 2019 to a projected $26 billion in 2025. So far this year, companies in this sector have raised over $23 billion.

Ashesh Jain, who previously led autonomy projects at Lyft and Zoox, co-founded Coram with Peter Ondruska, a former head of AI research at Lyft and Toyota. Their experience in AI systems for autonomous vehicles led them to apply their expertise to physical security, a market they believe is much larger.

Coram AI recently launched an innovative product called Deep Investigation. This new tool allows customers to pose complex questions to the security platform, accessible via interfaces like ChatGPT or Claude. For example, a school can ask the platform to list all the fights that occurred on campus last month, identify patterns, blur students' faces in videos, and generate a detailed report. Similarly, a warehouse could use it to analyze truck parking times at loading docks.

CEO Ashesh Jain emphasized that Coram's goal is to provide customers with the equivalent of a sophisticated data science team, capable of answering questions in minutes that would otherwise require hours of manual work. Since raising $13.8 million in its Series A last year, Coram's revenue has quadrupled, and its customer base has tripled.

Coram has particularly resonated with school districts. The company's technology can detect a firearm, automatically alert 911, and help initiate a lockdown on campus, thereby providing enhanced safety in educational environments.

Coram operates in a highly competitive security market, where players like Verkada, Avigilon from Motorola Solutions, and Eagle Eye Networks are also present. Verkada, for instance, was valued at $5.8 billion, although it suffered a major data breach in 2021, exposing over 150,000 customer cameras.

Coram's ambition is to become one of the largest security providers in the world. Jain envisions a future where Coram's software could collaborate with advanced robotic technologies, such as robotic dogs and potentially humanoids, to enhance property security. "Every building will have robotic security," Jain stated, emphasizing that this is an integral part of their mission.