Top Deal: Cloud-Controlled Physical Security Services

Key Stats:

Summary

Cloudastructure has been selected as a “Top Deal” by KingsCrowd. This distinction is reserved for deals selected into the top 10% of our due diligence funnel. If you have questions regarding our deal diligence and selection methodology, please reach out to hello@kingscrowd.com.

Problem

When you think of large companies, the last thing you probably think about is the security that goes into securing and protecting a premises. Video surveillance, manned guards, sensors, and more are all part of securing a premises. What is surprising, however, is that manned guarding is about three times as large as video surveillance. Guards simply check whether or not faces match badges, tailgating/piggybacking, and other activities. 

Additionally, with the advent of cloud-based technologies, you would think video surveillance and access control would have moved to the cloud, but those services are still based on local servers. Despite the importance of security, most enterprises rely on archaic means to prevent breaches. 

In the massive security industry sized at $128B, enterprises simply trust security guards and old methods to protect their employees and IP. With so much at stake, wouldn’t it be better to move security services like video surveillance, access control, and more to move to the cloud?

Solution

Cloudastructure is bringing AI for security to enterprise customers. Cloudastructure is providing enterprises cloud-based infrastructure for video surveillance as a service, door access control as a service, and integration with other sensors. With Cloudastructure, enterprises no longer need to trawl through hours of video to find the event that they’re looking for and can now search by tag to find the video and event they need right away. Video surveillance is now faster, more useful, and convenient for enterprises.

The $128B security industry still relies on manned guards and arcane methods like  tailgating/piggybacking to protect their assets. Given the size and its projected growth, there is plenty of growth opportunities for a cloud-based security startup to outperform and take market share from legacy incumbents. In the future, Cloudastructure will be able to help enterprises search and find any video by tag: person, animal, vehicle, etc. Additionally, Cloudastructure will be able to our-guard human guards with its door access control systems.  

Cloudastructure’s business model revolves selling doors and cameras to its enterprise customers along with a SaaS component that in theory will be the main money-maker for the business. It makes business sense to have a recurring revenue portion that insulates the business a bit from needing to constantly sell cameras and doors and to provide additional cloud services where the bulk of their business will be.

The Deal

Cloudastructure is offering a SAFE at a $10M valuation cap. There is a minimum investment of $100. To date, the company has raised $196K in funding through Wefunder.

The Team

Cloudastructure is offering a SAFE at a $10M valuation cap. There is a minimum investment of $100. To date, the company has raised $196K in funding through Wefunder.

Why We Like it

1. Team: The Cloudastructure team is very experienced and the CEO and CTO have both had successful exits in the past. The Founder and CEO, Rick Bentley, previously founded and sold Televoke/deCarta to Uber and CTO Gregory Rayzman was a part of a number of startups that have been acquired. They are also experienced in their respective roles as either an operator and engineer. The team is complemented by a sales and BizDev veteran in the commercial security space in Crag Johnson. Lastly, the team has a healthy amount of funding from strategic investors that amounts to $2.1M, but they could benefit from an additional strategic in the data and IoT space. 
2. Market Trends: The video surveillance, door access control, and manned security segments of the security industry are segments currently serviced by solutions that rely on unreliable means. Although security guards are relatively inexpensive, they can be unreliable and susceptible to exhaustion and boredom. Cloud-controlled cameras and doors that immediately ping security about anything suspicious don’t get exhausted. Additionally, the move to cloud makes sense as almost everything in the enterprise is moving to the cloud. Although it sounds counterintuitive to bring physical security to the cloud, cloud-based solutions are ultimately cheaper, more efficient, and allows a company like Cloudastructure to use machine learning and AI to eventually find and spot anomalies. 
3. Exit Opportunities: The exit opportunities in this industry are plentiful and could yield great early returns. We believe if Cloudastructure has hit product-market fit along with being a good product, the company could grow to become a behemoth that will IPO. Even if the company doesn’t IPO in the future, there are legacy companies in the space like Honeywell that have acquired other companies. Honeywell, for example, has acquired at least one company a year since 2002 and since 2002, has acquired well over 20 companies. If Honeywell senses Cloudastructure making strides in its field, Honeywell could acquire Cloudastructure at a good price for investors.

The Rating: Top Deal

The video surveillance, door access control, and security guard segments of the security industry is an antiquated but growing market. With the continued rise and migration to cloud, it only makes sense to bring these segments of the security industry to the cloud where it will make things faster, more efficient, and usable. Cloudastructure’s solution for video surveillance looks to modernize the $128B industry.

Cloudastructure, like most startups, has obstacles to overcome. The company has some traction, but the company’s MRR and customers don’t necessarily justify its current valuation. Additionally, as the company sells IoT-enabled cameras and doors, the company will need a great deal of capital as the space it competes in are very capital intensive.  

Given the company’s financial traction on little capital raised, we believe this is a great investment, especially with a valuation cap of $9M. It’s very likely the company raises another round of venture funding from institutional investors, thus it would be better to invest now than later. The company is poised to grow, expand its geographic reach, and develop its burgeoning B2B business. As the company becomes more successful, it becomes more likely the company will find investors and advisors who provide the strategic value that the team needs. 

The leadership team at Cloudastructure inspires hope that they can lead the company to success. Their combination of experience in their respective fields and previous exits suggest they may be able to lead the company to a successful exit. The exit opportunities in the space are very attractive with an early acquisition in Honeywell, for example, being possible and we believe the startup may even be able to IPO.