Knightscope goes public, offering $40 million in stock

Knightscope announced that it will be going public on the NASDAQ global market under the ticker symbol KSCP. Knightscope will be offering $40 million of Class A common stock at $10 per share.

Knightscope plans to use the proceeds to continue to scale its fleet of autonomous security robots and to invest in new technologies. The company has a line of four different security robots, ranging from a stationary robot to an all terrain one.

“On this important day, I wish to take a moment to thank the absolutely relentless team at Knightscope and our 28,000+ investors for their unwavering support,” said Knightscope chairman and CEO, William Santana Li. “We are committed more than ever to our mission of making the United States of America the safest country in the world. We need to provide the brave women and men in uniform, on our own soil, cutting edge technology to help them make smarter, faster and safer decisions. They deserve only the best and so does every community in our great Nation, as we work to reimagine public safety, together.”

Knightscope was founded in 2013, and it has brought in over $75 million in funding since then. In 2020, the company gained its first federal purchase order through a General Services Administration (GSA) contract.

The company offers its robots for sale using a robots-as-a-service (RaaS) business model. RaaS is a capital expense heavy business model as the RaaS-provider (i.e. KnightScope) doesn’t sell the physical equipment to its customers, it only offers the robots in a subscription model. Thus the robots remain on the books for Knightscope throughout their useful lifetime.

Knightscope first announced its plans to go public at its shareholders meeting in September 2021. There, the company also announced that it would be prioritizing its 28,000 investors first, allowing them to purchase stock before the rest of the public.

The company also announced that Kristi Ross, the co-founder and co-chief executive officer and president of tastytrade, will be joining its board of directors. In June 2021, tastytrade was acquired by IG Group Holdings PLC for over $1 billion.

“I’m honored to join the Knightscope board, where the company mission is focused on the safety and security of our country. The Knightscope team has demonstrated an exceptionally innovative approach to autonomous safety through real-time intelligence technology. I’m excited to be part of and contribute to a revolutionary company poised to change the way we think about data and how it can improve our security,” said Ross.

Knightscope’s shares were listed immediately following the closing of the NASDAQ on December 1, 2021.

In April 2020, Knightscope announced new software features that would help to encourage social distancing at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The software enables Knightscope robots to identify tight groupings of people and then play warning messages.