Firefly Raises $20M in Series A Funding Led by Definition Capital
Oct 21, 2026 | By Devin Jacobs
SUMMARY
- Firefly raised $20 million in Series A funding.
- The funds will support growth and product development.
- Firefly develops AI safety technology.
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Follow usFirefly, a NYC-based provider of a physical AI platform for safety, has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round.
The round was led by Definition Capital with participation from BoxGroup and Susa Ventures.
The company will use the funds to develop new physical AI products, expand its engineering, machine learning and go-to-market teams and grow its presence across education, healthcare and enterprise markets.
What is Firefly?
Founded in 2024 by Alex Penn and James “Batt” Buckley, Firefly develops a physical AI platform that helps organizations improve safety and coordinate responses to incidents.
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Its platform combines purpose-built hardware, AI-powered software and existing infrastructure, including cameras and radios, into one system. It uses information from these technologies to detect incidents, automate daily operations and help safety teams coordinate responses in real time.
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Funding Details
Firefly raised $20 million in its Series A funding round led by Definition Capital, with participation from BoxGroup and Susa Ventures.
The company will use the investment to develop its products, hire across key teams and expand into education, healthcare and enterprise organizations.
How Will Firefly Use the Funding?
The funding will support the development of new physical AI products and expansion of the company's engineering, machine learning and go-to-market teams.
Firefly also plans to scale its platform across education, healthcare and enterprise organizations.
Company Background
Firefly was founded by Alex Penn, and James “Batt” Buckley in 2024. Buckley previously worked at Verkada, where he helped scale it's Alarms business from K-12 schools to Fortune 500 companies. Penn is an MIT graduate who spent nearly a decade at Apple leading engineering teams and taking products from concept to global scale.
The company combines hardware, AI software and existing infrastructure to help organizations understand events and coordinate action, from routine safety operations to emergency response.
“We've accepted a strange contradiction in safety technology: the more important the job, the more complicated the tools seem to become,” said James Batt Buckley, co-founder and CEO of Firefly. “We now have the technology to build something fundamentally different. Our goal is to give the people responsible for safety extraordinary capabilities, while keeping them firmly in control.
“People have incredibly intuitive technology in their pockets, but when they go to work protecting others, they're expected to operate a maze of complicated systems,” said Alex Penn, co-founder and CTO of Firefly. “We didn't want to accept that.
Market and Business Growth
Firefly is targeting organizations that need better visibility and coordination across their safety systems. Its platform connects information from different technologies to help teams identify incidents and respond more effectively.
The company is already working with Front Range Community College, Colorado's largest community college. Its platform brings information from three campuses into one system to help safety teams monitor activity and coordinate responses.
What Happens Next?
Firefly plans to develop new AI products, expand its team and grow its presence across education, healthcare and enterprise markets. The company aims to help organizations manage safety operations through a connected system that combines hardware, software and existing infrastructure.
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