San Diego-based Vault RMS Inducted into Department of Homeland Security’s EMERGE 2016 Accelerator Program
Vault RMS, a technology platform that tracks firefighters’ exposure to toxic substances, announced last week that it was accepted into the Department of Homeland Security’s 2016 EMERGE accelerator program.
The EMERGE program was founded by Dr. Reginald Brothers, under-secretary for science and technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he is responsible for managing the department’s research and development arm. The goal of EMERGE is to identify and grow startups that develop wearable technologies for first responders, including sensors, protective equipment and technology for communications vehicles. Participants in the EMERGE accelerator program receive early market validation and testing opportunities provided by the department, and they also have insider access to other markets for their businesses via a variety of government sector partners.
Now in its second year, the EMERGE 2016: Wearable Technology Accelerator Program selected only 10 startups from more than 260 applicants. Vault RMS was chosen as one of them because of its unique platform, which aggregates disparate data sources to help firefighters monitor what their bodies are exposed to and help them manage the risks of work-induced diseases that plague the first responders’ community.
Vault Exposure Tracker Screenshot | Credit: vaultrms.com
Vault RMS was co-founded in 2013 by Chris Memmott and Clive Savacool. Savacool served in the fire service starting in 1996, and the duo came up with the business idea when Savacool realized that his own permanent respiratory damage resulting from firefighting work could potentially have been avoided by more active monitoring of his exposure levels to toxic substances. The two subsequently developed the Vault Exposure Tracker, an IoT platform that collects data about firefighters’ exposure to toxins from sources including 911-dispatch, traditional records systems, wearable devices, heat and chemical sensors and weather APIs. The company raised $1.3 million seed funding in August this year.
Other participants in the 2016 EMERGE program include Lumenus, which produces LED lights-embedded clothing that improves the visibility of industrial workers, and HAAS Alert, a mobile vehicle-to-vehicle communications platform that sends out digital signals along with sirens to people on the road.
The EMERGE 2016 accelerator program works in partnership with the nonprofit Center for Innovative Technology; TechNexus, a venture collaborative that helps corporations partner with and invest in the startup community; and the U.S. Department of Energy Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
