SceneDoc gets investment from Motorola Solutions

Public-safety software provider SceneDoc last week announced the completion of a $4 million Series A round of funding with participation from Motorola Solutions’ venture-capital unit and a group of angel investors, according to press releases from SceneDoc and Motorola Solutions.

SceneDoc has developed software that enables field workers—particularly public-safety officers—to document an incident in near real time via reporting from a scene with text, photo or video evidence that can be shared with incident-command, 911-dispatch and administrative personnel (SceneDoc CEO Alex Kottoor describes the company’s offering in this podcast).

Tom Guthrie, Motorola Solutions’ vice president of smart public-safety solutions, said the investment in SceneDoc is part of the company’s approach to help fund companies that are developing products and services that could be strategically beneficial to Motorola Solutions.

“Motorola has had a ventures group for quite some time,” Guthrie said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “In the past, it’s just been more of a financial investment, looking at returns. But we’ve been very, very careful now to say, ‘Let’s invest in those that we view are strategic, and we want to see them develop technology that’s applicable back into our day-to-day business operations.

“This is one of those … I’d view this as a mobile extension of our records capabilities and records capture.”

Earlier this month, Motorola Solutions announced a strategic investment in VocalZoom, the developer of a noise-cancelling microphone technology. The amount of the investments was not announced, but Motorola Solutions’ initial investments in such circumstances typically range between $2 million and $5 million, Motorola Solutions spokeswoman Tama McWhinney said.

SceneDoc last month announced a partnership with VIEVU, a manufacturer of body-worn cameras, to integrate video from VIEVU cameras into the SceneDoc platform. As with VIEVU, Motorola Solutions’ sales channels are playing a key role in helping market the SceneDoc offering to the public-safety sector, Kottoor has said.

SceneDoc will use the funding to expand its sales and marketing efforts, bring its investigation and field documentation platform to new global markets, and accelerate product development, according to a press release announcing the investment.

“This funding will enable SceneDoc to realize its goal of being the de facto technology platform that unifies field documentation and communication,” Kottoor said in a prepared statement. “We’re seeing tremendous demand, on a global scale, from law enforcement and public-safety agencies for a mobile-first solution, which both improves field efficiency and enhances communications amongst the officers and numerous agencies that are often called to respond to an incident.”

SceneDoc’s investment effort was led by venture-capital firm iGan Partners.

“SceneDoc is well positioned to be the leader in mobile-first law enforcement software,” iGan Partners President Sam Ifergan said in a prepared statement. “We believe law enforcement is just beginning to make the leap into mobility. SceneDoc’s software is extremely easy-to-use and dramatically reduces the amount of time spent processing a scene and cataloging evidence. This creates real value for police and other public-safety agencies that have made or are planning to make significant investments in outfitting their personnel with handheld devices.”