MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Knightscope, which is developing autonomous mobile robots focused on security applications, today announced it will be accepting online investments through StartEngine, an online crowdfunding platform. The company is looking to raise $50 million in a Regulation A+ Initial Public Offering, which it launched in July 2019.

The company said that concurrent with the live offering, and contingent upon factors such as raising a sufficient amount of funds and meeting the applicable listing standards, it plans to “begin preparing an S-1 format Form 1-A and Nasdaq Capital Market application” in anticipation of a possible public listing at the conclusion of the Regulation A+ IPO. It said the ticker symbol “KSCP” has been reserved for the company on Nasdaq.

To help potential investors understand more about the offering, Knightscape is hosting a moderated webinar called “Bots & Brokers” on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2019. William Santana Li, CEO of Knightscope, and Howard Marks, CEO of StartEngine, will be the featured guests of the webinar, which will be streamed from Knightscope headquarters in Silicon Valley. Those interested in joining the webinar must RSVP at this site no later than Nov. 5.

“In addition to being able to accept international investors, I would like to congratulate StartEngine on achieving 50 state regulatory compliance for accepting online investments as a new, next generation broker-dealer in the United States,” said Li in a statement. “Now practically anyone may invest in Knightscope from main street retail investors, Wall Street investors, accredited or unaccredited, tech investors, patriots and all citizens wanting to help support a solution to the ongoing violence in our country.”

There is a minimum investment of $1,000, and a maximum of $10 million through the StartEngine platform. In responding to a question on the StartEngine crowdfunding page, Li broke down how the company would use the proceeds:

• New machines-in-network: $15 million
• Research & development (K1, K3, K5, K7 models) $5 million
• Selling, General and Administrative expenses (SG&A): $15 million
• Expenses & Commissions; $4 million
• Financing arrangements payoff: $1.35 million
• General corporate and business purposes: $9.65 million

As part of the offering, Knightscope created an investor’s video:

Knightscope, which said it operates indoor and outdoor security robots in 15 states across four time zones, has been dogged by several widely reported incidents, including the following:

• In 2016, a K5 robot was patrolling in a shopping center when a toddler bumped into the machine, scraping his leg and leaving a bruise. Knightscope issued a report on the incident and apologized to the family.
• In 2017, a photo of a K5 robot that ran into a water fountain in Washington, D.C., went viral.
• In 2017, the Los Angeles Times reported on several incidents with Knightscope robots, in which robots were “battered with barbecue sauce, allegedly smeared with feces, covered by a tarp and nearly toppled by an attacker.”
• Earlier this month, NBC News reported an incident in which a woman pressed the emergency alert button on a Knightscope robot to report a fight going on in a park, but the button was not connected to the police department.

Li did answer a question on the StartEngine comments section to a potential investor about whether the robots are being made vandal-proof, such as someone in a darkened parking area trying to take out a robot so it doesn’t report a vehicle break-in. Li responded:

“Nothing is ‘vandal proof’. But we have a staff running 24/7 monitoring the health of all the machines across the country down to the millisecond. Additionally, the security guards are utilizing the machines as a tool and are also monitoring. And we have all the recorded information to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law – and we have done so. In many or all cases, this is a felony and we’ve put a few folks in jail already. Just like [you] shouldn’t mess with a law enforcement vehicle or an officer – [you] shouldn’t mess with the robot!”