San Francisco-based Hyper, a voice AI company revolutionizing emergency services, has recently secured $6.3 million in a seed funding round. This significant investment, led by prominent early-stage venture capital firm Eniac Ventures, aims to deploy advanced voice AI technology to automate non-emergency 9-1-1 calls. The funding underscores a growing recognition of artificial intelligence's transformative potential within critical public safety infrastructure, signaling a pivotal moment for the sector.
Co-founded by Ben Sanders and Damian McCabe, Hyper emerged from stealth with a clear objective: to alleviate the immense pressure on emergency dispatch centers. The company's innovative voice AI solution is designed to efficiently screen and handle non-urgent inquiries, which frequently tie up valuable human resources and can inadvertently delay responses to genuine emergencies. By automating these routine interactions, Hyper seeks to enhance overall response times and contribute directly to saving lives.
The $6.3 million seed round attracted a robust syndicate of investors, reflecting broad confidence in Hyper's vision. Beyond lead investor Eniac Ventures, notable participants included Ripple Ventures, GreatPoint Ventures, VSC Ventures, and Tusk Venture Partners. This diverse backing, also featuring angel investors from leading tech companies, provides not only capital but also strategic expertise to support Hyper's ambitious growth trajectory.
The timing of this investment is deeply rooted in the rapid advancements of artificial intelligence. As Nihal Mehta, Founding General Partner at Eniac Ventures, articulated in a tweet referencing Wall Street Journal coverage of the deal, > "The 'Why now' is AI." This statement highlights Eniac Ventures' strategic conviction that the current technological landscape offers an unprecedented opportunity for AI-driven solutions like Hyper's to scale and profoundly impact public safety. Eniac Ventures, known for its focus on companies leveraging code for transformation, sees Hyper as a prime example of applying cutting-edge AI to real-world challenges.
With the new capital, Hyper is poised to significantly accelerate the deployment of its voice AI technology across emergency call centers throughout the United States. A key focus will be expanding its enterprise outreach strategy to integrate its solution more broadly within public safety agencies. This funding is crucial for Hyper to continue its mission of automating non-emergency calls, thereby optimizing dispatcher efficiency and ensuring that critical resources are available when true emergencies arise.