Las Vegas-based drone startup raises $25M in new funding

Las Vegas-based drone startup Brinc announced Tuesday it has raised $25 million in series A funding.

The tech startup is focused on creating drones that can fly inside buildings and help first responders. Its first system — the Lemur — started selling earlier this year. The company’s drone helped responders in Surfside, Florida, with search and rescue inside of the Champlain South building collapse, according to the company.

Its funding round was led by venture capital firm Index Ventures with participation from several heavy hitters in the tech world including Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and former president of Y Combinator, Tusk Venture Partners, former LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner’s Next Play Ventures, Dylan Field, Elad Gil, Patrick Spence, Alex Wang, and former Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan. The series A round follows a previous seed round of $2.25 million led by Altman.

“After watching the response to the Oct. 1 mass shooting, I felt a real call to serve and create something that would have a material impact and keep people safe,” said Brinc founder and CEO Blake Resnick, who started the company in 2017 when he was 17 years old. “In the six months since we started selling, our team has seen overwhelming demand and this new funding will help us accelerate hiring to scale and support rapid growth.”

Series A financing refers to an investment in a privately held, start-up company after it has shown progress in building its business model and demonstrates the potential to grow and generate revenue.