Startup company Aurelian has just announced that it has raised 14 million USD in the Series A round led by the NEA fund. Previously, Aurelian focused on automating appointments for hair salons, but after seeing people have to wait up to 45 minutes to connect with voice workers, the company switched to building an AI voice assistant for the 999 system.
This AI assistant is designed to receive and classify calls related to parking violations, noise or wallet loss - situations that do not require an emergency response. In case of detecting a dangerous situation, the AI will immediately transfer the call to the switchboard. For other cases, the system automatically collects information, prepares reports and sends them to the police department for handling.
Since May 2024, Aurelian has been deployed at more than 10 911 centers in Washington, Tennessee and Michigan. These units apply new technology due to the prolonged shortage of human resources. The work of a 911 coordinator is highly stressful, often having to work 12-16 hours/day, among the industries with the highest unemployment rate in the US.
According to Keenan - founder of Aurelian, the company's goal is to help reduce the burden on coordinators, so that they can focus on real emergency situations. Investment partner Mustafa Neemuchwala commented: "AI does not replace existing humans, but replaces the positions they need to recruit but cannot recruit".
