With surging crime rates, acute security staffing shortages, and mounting false alarms, organizations are desperately seeking smarter ways to strengthen their security while reducing costs.
Hakimo, an innovator in AI-powered physical security monitoring, has raised $10.5 million funding round and launched AI Operator, a breakthrough autonomous security agent that monitors existing security hardware, detects threats in real time, and executes response protocols just like a human security professional.
The Series A funding round was led by Vertex Ventures and Zigg Capital with participation from RXR Arden Digital Ventures and existing investors Defy.vc and Gokul Rajaram.
Hakimo has now raised a total of $20.5 million, including prior funding rounds led by Neotribe Ventures and Rocketship.vc.
Hakimo’s AI Operator combines computer vision and generative AI to monitor existing security hardware such as cameras and badge readers. Unlike conventional systems, it can detect any anomaly or potential threat that can be described in words – a breakthrough in physical security monitoring.
Beyond detection, the system issues real-time speaker warnings and executes standard operating procedures (SOPs) to respond to incidents, with human operators providing intervention only when necessary. This AI-human collaboration delivers superior protection at a fraction of the cost of traditional security approaches.
“Hakimo has pioneered a new era of AI-driven security by creating an intelligent AI agent that understands and responds to threats like never before. We’re not just automating security—we’re redefining it with AI that can recognize and act on any security event and deliver unmatched protection for businesses worldwide.” said Sam Joseph, co-founder & CEO of Hakimo.
Hakimo was founded in early 2020 by Sam Joseph and Sagar Honnungar, Stanford-trained AI experts with backgrounds in building enterprise-grade software as a service (SaaS).
The duo launched Hakimo after identifying converging trends: exploding camera deployments, plummeting hardware costs, and rapid advancements in computer vision.
The founders recognized the potential for AI to reinvent physical security and have since assembled a talented, growing team of engineers and industry professionals to execute their vision of autonomous security monitoring.
Hakimo’s solution comes at a critical inflection point for physical security. The traditional guarding industry struggles with severe hiring and quality challenges, while alarm monitoring services face growing issues with false alarms and police departments increasingly refusing to respond to unverified alerts.
By leveraging existing cameras, AI capabilities, and remote operators, Hakimo eliminates these challenges while offering the advantages of both on-site guards and traditional alarm systems.
The company has experienced explosive growth over the past year, tripling its customer base and securing more than a hundred clients across diverse industries including multifamily apartments, car dealerships, construction sites, and Fortune 500 enterprises.
In 2024 alone, Hakimo’s technology prevented thousands of security incidents, assisted law enforcement in multiple arrests, and even saved a life.
“We got a drastic reduction in trespassing right after deploying Hakimo, and I now sleep better at night with the peace-of-mind provided by Hakimo’s AI agent,” said Rodrigo Duran, general manager at Kia Santa Maria, one of those customers.
The technology’s impact extends beyond the scope of traditional security applications. Its ability to monitor multiple sites simultaneously while maintaining human-level reasoning has proven transformative for businesses seeking comprehensive security without the escalating costs and reliability issues of conventional approaches.
Commenting on the investment, Piyush Kharbanda, General Partner of Vertex Ventures SEA & India said:
“We are very excited to partner with the Hakimo team, who are bringing ground-up technological innovation to the large but antiquated physical security industry. There is a dire need for innovation, as current solutions lack the speed or accuracy to offer affordable real-time protection for offline businesses. Hakimo bridges this gap with an AI + Services approach, coupling the speed of cutting-edge vision AI algorithms with the reliability of humans-in-the-loop, thus delivering a 10x better service at more affordable rates.”
Ryan Orley, managing partner at Zigg Capital added:
“After studying the security monitoring ecosystem, our team concluded that Hakimo’s AI + Services solution is more robust and offers better value than any other technology we have encountered. Hakimo’s capabilities at its accessible price point are without peer. In fact, I became a Hakimo customer before our firm’s investment”.
“Hakimo is transforming physical security with AI, delivering real-time threat detection and smarter operations,” said Neil Sequeira, founder & partner, Defy.vc.
At Defy, we back bold teams tackling big challenges, and Sam and Sagar’s vision aligns perfectly with that mission. We’re excited to support Hakimo as they scale and set a new standard for AI-powered security.”
