The Road to Now

Posted on July 19, 2021July 31, 2024 by admin

One of the best aspects of being part of the Evolv leadership team is the chance to work closely with our founders, Mike Ellenbogen and Anil Chitkara. In light of our recent listing on the NASDAQ exchange, I felt it’s an appropriate moment to sit down with Mike and Anil to get their perspective on their road to now.

Dana: Why did you start Evolv back in 2013?

Mike: Evolv is my third startup in the physical security space, so I am deeply aware of the challenges and technical limitations associated with preventing active shooter and terrorist attacks. Many of our original Evolv team members have been together now through three startups in physical security. The 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting and the 2013 Boston marathon bombing directly affected people close to both Anil and me. Those events really crystalized for us that the world needs a fundamentally better way to prevent these types of attacks, and that there was currently no good solution. We looked at the situation and said, “We know how to solve these types of problems and we’re in a unique position to make a real impact. If not us, then who?” It just felt like it was time to get the band back together.

Anil: It’s personal to me. I have been close — painfully close — to multiple terrorist events, and I decided that I needed to turn my energy to making the world safer from future attacks. My close friend and college roommate, Steve, was on the 101st floor of the North Tower on 9/11. He had just gotten married and had a son. Twelve years later I was on Arlington Street in Boston with my three young children waiting for my wife to cross the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon. She finished, we drove home and found out that 45 minutes after we left that the first explosive device had detonated. A close friend wasn’t as lucky. He was seriously injured and still has shrapnel in his neck. So, as Mike said, we started Evolv to stop these types of senseless acts. We saw that they were happening in more types of locations in more towns and cities, harming more and more people. We just knew there had to be a better way to prevent them from happening.

Dana: What problem did you set out solve?

Mike: There are plenty of technologies that help minimize the response time after an event has already started: video analytics, gunshot detection, etc. But this after-the-fact type of solution doesn’t address the real problem. The world needs a way to prevent the bullets from flying in the first place. At the time, the only available solutions to try to stop attacks like the Boston Marathon bombing were old school metal detectors. This technology is over 100 years old and was never designed for today’s visitors and spectators, with all of the items we normally carry — like smart phones and tablets — or for today’s venues. If you’ve ever stood frustrated in a security line, cursing the slow security screening process, you understand the problem. We saw the need for a frictionless process that can identify threats without slowing down visitor flow, ideally without even breaking stride. Our goal was to help any venue, with or without government mandates, to create a safer environment for their visitors without negatively affecting the visitor experience.

Anil: Old metal detectors and manual security checks were widely used after 9/11. These approaches treated everyone as a threat, forcing them to stop, empty their pockets and bags, and submit to a search. We wanted to pivot the paradigm. The vast majority of people are not a threat – so why not let them pass through without ever stopping and only stop those few who need a closer look? Why can’t most people be screened as they walk through at the normal pace of life without ever stopping? That’s what we wanted to deliver.

Dana: Why did you think you were the right people to solve it?

Mike: This isn’t a problem space that you just decide to get into and a couple of weeks later you fully understand it. A couple of kids in a dorm room aren’t going to figure it out. The physics is very, very challenging. The math is hard. There are all kinds of subtle environmental issues that cause huge problems in the real world but don’t exist in the lab. We have a unique team of very talented people with the depth of experience to anticipate many problems and the context to cleverly solve new problems as they come up. We’ve also been able to leverage the latest advances in sensors and machine learning that hadn’t been available or applied to this problem space before. Our prior success in this market also gave us excellent access to capital from really smart, deeply connected? committed? investors. Even with all these advantages, we had to work the problem really hard from many angles for a long time, but in the end, we cracked it.

Anil: Building on what Mike said, we really benefited from having a multidisciplinary technical team with an intimate understanding of different venues and their operational requirements. I don’t know of any team that has collectively spent more time on the front lines, shoulder-to-shoulder with security professionals as they conduct screening operations. We knew the challenges the staff were struggling with, and we knew what they wanted and needed. There are just as many subtle process issues as subtle technical issues of the kind Mike mentioned. We combined our knowledge of all these issues with our background in user experience design to solve for both the visitors being screened and the security staff operating the system. We’ve got hundreds and hundreds of lessons from operating in so many different environments in the real world. And we continue to incorporate these experiences into our product and our team’s approach with our customers.

Dana: Why wasn’t it solved before?

Mike: Most companies in our space wait for a clear market with a well-defined specification, usually from some government agency, before they’ll consider committing the time, resources and capital to develop a new product. There is no established “firearm detection standard” or “IED detection standard” out there to start from. We recognized that there are thousands of venues, from schools to stadiums to workplaces, that want to a create an environment that’s safe from threats to the crowd. Most of them aren’t really worried about objects that might be considered threats in a prison environment, or even an aviation environment. They are primarily concerned about firearms in the US and other similar threats to the crowd outside the US. These concerns have been well-known and almost universal for decades, but the venue operators had broadly rejected security metal detectors because they are awful. There are few products in the world so universally hated as walk-through metal detectors. Users made a value judgement and decided it wasn’t worth creating a line that trails around the block in order to screen visitors for weapons. Most just went with the lowest common denominator – guards looking in visitors’ bags or perhaps a cursory hand-wanding. We were willing to create the detection system we thought people were really looking for, even though there wasn’t a specification available to reference. It was definitely the harder path, but we believe it was ultimately the right path.

Anil: I think we looked at the problem very differently than others in this space. We didn’t want to find metal, we wanted to find weapons. In fact, we wanted to ignore personal items such as cell phones, keys and belt buckles. Once you look at the problem from a different lens, you start to think about the technology direction differently. The hardest part of the problem was to build a robust, resilient system that was adaptable to operate in a multitude of environments with different types of visitors carrying a wide range of personal items. A family going to a theme park is carrying different personal items than a worker going into a warehouse, a kid going to school, or a couple going to the opera. We focused on understanding three key factors: stream of commerce coming through, the environmental factors at the site, and operational variables for different security approaches. We then built a system that would be robust, resilient and flexible to meet these varied situations.

Dana: What were the major challenges?

Mike: One of the biggest challenges was being able to identify threats without slowing down the visitor flow, ideally without even breaking stride and with people walking together, even side-by-side. This requires being able to isolate individuals and find threats almost instantly, which is hard when you also need detection to be both more precise and more accurate than existing systems. Another related problem was providing a welcoming, non-threatening visitor experience while also creating a clear visual deterrent. Having an industrial design that unsettles threat actors by conveying that there is some serious tech under the hood without making it scary to harmless visitors was a tricky balancing act. And finally, there is the simple fact that we had to raise tens of millions of dollars of capital to adequately fund R&D and production. We had to innovate at the edge of the possible in both bits and atoms, and that’s just harder and more expensive than developing other types of products. That said, there’s nothing I enjoy more than being together with a group of smart people tackling tough problems like these.

Anil: It’s hard. It’s just really, really hard. Because the system is detecting and preventing weapons from entering facilities, it needs to operate at extremely high-performance levels. It can’t be right just some of the time. Additionally, we look at the security system as a combination of technology plus people (security staff) and process. These elements all need to work hand-in-hand. And people are fallible and inconsistent. It’s insanely difficult to maintain the same level of vigilance for every person coming through over a two-hour shift. With lines forming, anxious visitors, under hot sun or in driving rain — it’s just hard. We used advanced technology to automate the mundane, repetitive tasks so the security staff can focus on the most important tasks that require human attention. They need to address those few people who may be a threat with focused attention and follow their prescribed protocols. It took lots of iteration to get that balance right.

Dana: So, is this what you’d call a deep tech problem?

Mike: This is absolutely a deep tech problem. First, you have to understand the physics and develop the sensors that enable the system to discriminate between innocuous everyday items and real security threats. Then you need to design a hardware and software architecture that can work consistently, anytime and anywhere, while screening up to 3,600 people per hour, or one person per second. That’s essentially as fast as people can stream through a set of double doors. And then once you have the data and can keep up with the flow, you need to process the information and make a decision while visitors are still within a stride of the threshold. This requires a combination of advanced embedded software and machine learning. Anyone with a titanium hip or knee will appreciate the system’s ability to ignore these implants and other everyday items while automatically detecting actual threats.

Anil: What Mike said. It’s deep tech that requires a cross functional, highly integrated approach. I don‘t even understand the math on our whiteboards or the signal chain through the system. But it works, and it works really well.

Dana: Where do we stand relative to accomplishing the Evolv mission?

Mike: When we started Evolv, we envisioned a world where people were safe in all the places we live, work and play. We’ve taken a big step toward that vision, but it feels like we’ve only just scratched the surface so far. There are plenty of venues that want to create a safer environment for their visitors, fans, employees, students and guests but are just now starting to learn that Evolv exists. We need to do more to get our story out there. We’re also thinking deeply about other ways to apply our core technology to prevent gun violence, active shooter and terrorist events in different types of applications and spaces. There are plenty more technology and business problems to solve on the road to fully realizing our vision. We know we have a long way to go, but we’ll get there eventually.

Anil: Evolv has taken a major step toward making the world a safer place. Many of our customers were not using any security screening technology before we deployed our products at their locations. We’ve kept thousands and thousands of weapons out of places where they aren’t welcome. We’re now screening over 11 million visitors a month, and that number continues to grow rapidly. But the fact is, there are still shootings and bombings. There are fatalities and injuries that can be prevented. We’ve got to accelerate and scale everything we do to match the scope of the problem. Our story has just begun.

Democratizing Security: Keeping People Safe

Posted on July 19, 2021July 31, 2024 by admin

Helping Evolv become a public company has been an incredible, and humbling experience. Our customers, employees, advisors, and investors have been wonderfully unified behind our mission of making the world a safer place, and we are truly thankful for their support. Building momentum through an unpredictable pandemic has been a wild ride, but we’ve come through it stronger than ever. Now that our transformation into EVLV on the NASDAQ is complete, it’s a good time to look to the future.

While becoming a public company is a noteworthy milestone for all our stakeholders, the stakeholders I am most focused on are the millions of innocent people rushing back into their favorite venues, unaware that they’re surrounded by concealed weapons. Compelling new data and the lived experiences of our customers have convinced me that the threat profile is spiking in ways that few people fully realize and even fewer are equipped to address. As security professionals, we need to start thinking differently about the threat and work together to address it.

Take Me Out to The Ballgame, but Don’t Touch Me.

After 16 months of pandemic anxiety, travel restrictions, lockdowns, social distancing, and masking, the vaccinated population is justifiably feeling entitled to return to all their favorite gathering places. Most people are emerging from the pandemic fog with excitement, but many still harbor significant anxiety about being in crowds or having physical contact with? strangers. The professionals who run facilities and venues are understandably thrilled to welcome back their visitors, but it must be done in a way that recognizes the long-lasting—and possibly permanent—changes in visitor expectations. Going back to densely crowded, hands-on security screening is not what anyone wants in the post-pandemic world.

There are More Guns than You Think

It’s no secret that there are a lot of guns out there, but many people don’t realize that they likely encounter multiple concealed guns every day without realizing it. Based on industry data, we estimate that there are over 440 million civilian-owned guns per person in the U.S. That’s around 1.3 guns for every person in the country. About 42% of U.S. households own at least one gun and few guns are kept exclusively at home. A quarter of Americans say they carry a gun at least sometimes and nearly a fifth, 18%, claim to carry every day. And no, it’s not just a red state thing: 28% of people in the Northeast say they carry a gun at least some of the time.

Civilian Firearms in the United Statesbased on Evolv analysis of datafromSmall Arms Survey 2018andSmall ArmsAnalytics2018-2021.

Another fact that might surprise you is that the United States is not the only country where civilian-owned guns are common. According to Small Arms Survey research, there are 85 countries with 10 or more civilian-owned guns per 100 population. The list includes Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, and many other countries you might not expect. There are almost half a billion civilian-owned guns outside the United States, and while mass public shootings may feel less common in other countries, the list of tragic incidents outside the U.S. is not short.

Map of civilian guns per 100 people by country from theSmall Arms Survey 2017.

Guns are in the Building

Nearly every privately-owned facility and venue prohibits dangerous weapons, but the inconvenient truth is that many weapons slip through. How do I know this? Because most of our customers tell us that when they start using our Evolv Express® weapons detection screening, they find a shocking number of guns—far more than they expected and more than they ever found using procedures based on old technology such as metal detectors. I know of one facility in the U.S. that found 57 concealed guns in their first hour of testing Evolv Express at a single entrance. And no, it wasn’t a gun show or a law enforcement convention. It was a place where any average American family might find themselves on any given day of the week.

The stark reality is that old metal detector screening procedures fail to catch a lot of guns. That’s not to say metal detectors don’t work—it’s the combined system of people, process, and technology that fails. Metal detectors alarm on so many harmless objects that security staff divert all bags and pocket contents into slow, error-prone manual searches. Working under the angry stares of hundreds of frustrated visitors, security staff are under incredible pressure to keep things moving. The guns slip through.

A Fraying Society is a Dangerous Society

The likelihood of tragic violence increases when more guns are in the hands of people who are unusually anxious or fearful. New gun purchases were up 64% last year in the United States. The CDC says 40% of U.S. adults reported recent battles with mental health or substance abuse during 2020, with the prevalence of anxiety up 3X and depression up 4X year on year. And ongoing political polarization and extremist ideologies are creating an increasingly volatile situation.

More guns in more anxious hands means more tragic incidents. It’s just math, but that’s the reality of where we are as a society. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security summarized the situation in a 30 June law enforcement bulletin as follows:

“In recent weeks, domestic violent extremists (DVEs) motivated by various violent ideologies have continued to advocate violence and plan attacks. As of 16 June, racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist-white supremacists (RMVE-WSs) were sharing downloadable links to a publication discussing targeting mass gatherings, critical infrastructure, and law enforcement officers.”

It’s not just a handful of extremists who are changing the threat landscape. While only a tiny minority of gun owners are infected with the extremist ideologies that the DHS is tracking, the fact remains that many of people around us every day are feeling threatened enough to arm themselves. This increases the risk of tragic escalations where misunderstandings and opportunistic conflict can quickly erupt into violence.

The Duty of Care to Keep People Safe

The police recently arrested a man who tried to enter a major tourist destination with an unlicensed gun that was detected by Evolv Express. When questioned, the man explained that he felt threatened by recent public protests and felt he needed the gun to protect his family on vacation, and was willing to take the risk of detection. That’s where we are. The strength of the “visible deterrent” factor is fading fast. Facilities and venues need to start reliably detecting and stopping guns, and then let the public know they have this capability. It’s the only way to reclaim the lost ground, and it needs to happen soon.

If anxious gun owners are trying to slip into major tourist destinations with guns even when they know it is illegal and can clearly see security screening in place, it is safe to assume that they are also entering schools, grocery stores, malls, houses of worship, and other facilities where weapons are also prohibited, but screening is largely absent. The threat is everywhere.

As noted earlier, our customers tell us they find a surprising number of weapons with Evolv Express. They also tell us they love that they find more guns while allowing harmless visitors to enter ten times faster than their old screening process based on metal detectors and universal bag checks. They tell us they need fewer front-line security staff overall with Evolv Express, and the remaining staff loves the new process. They also tell us they love the operational awareness they get from Express Insights™ analytics. We hear this same story across hundreds of sites as we scan over 11 million individual visitors every month.

At this point, I believe it has become abundantly clear that Evolv Express has set a new and higher standard for what security screening should be. I believe every facility and venue owner has a duty of care to carefully consider the new standard that our weapons detection system represents in light of the escalating threats we’re seeing. We are committed to democratizing access to this technology over time so it can be everywhere it needs to be to keep the vulnerable masses safe.

If you want to be part of raising the standard of safety for millions of people, we’d love to have your support. Here are a few ideas on how you can help. If you are responsible for security at a facility or venue, please get in touch so we can discuss your needs. Consider speaking with the security staff at the places you gather most often and ask them if they have considered weapons detection. If you’ve experienced the speed and precision of Evolv Express in person, help us tell the world about it. And if you are looking to get more directly involved, note that we’re hiring in almost every department. Together we can all do a little to make everywhere safer.

Today’s Threat Environment: A Conversation with Former Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan

Posted on July 12, 2021July 31, 2024 by admin

I recently had the privilege of participating in a webinar with Mark J. Sullivan, former Director of the United States Secret Service and a member of the Evolv Board of Directors.

It’s always enlightening to hear Mark’s views on a range of topics focused on the state of security today and best practices for security professionals. Since he left the Secret Service, he’s worked with a wide range of organizations to help improve their security. Here are some highlights from our conversation.

Me: What kind of creative approaches have you seen with security professionals in terms of using their budgets most effectively?

Mark: I see a lot of people conducting threat vulnerability and risk assessments. It comes from having good plans, good policies, and good procedures. As well as having clear lines of communication with leadership—using people, technology, and ultimately using multiple layers of security to come up with the best plan for that organization.

Me: As you look out over the threat landscape today, what are you seeing as the threats that should be of particular concern to us all?

Mark: Automatic weapons, shoulder weapons, assault weapons, vehicle-born improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). These threats continue to evolve, and the challenge is to anticipate where the threats may come from. We are seeing that the softer targets become attractive to those who are looking to do harm.

Me: As security professionals think about the softer targets within their venues, and as they think about multiple layers of security, they should think about security protocols and mitigation approaches that might be visible and some that might be less visible. What is your guidance?

Mark: A lot of it comes down to situational awareness. Is there any type of pre-attack surveillance going on? How do we identify those types of pre-attack behavior? How are human resources used to provide a physical presence? How is access control handled? Are the people coming in, the right people? They also have the challenge of the insider threat. How do you identify those people in the organization that are potentially going to cause harm?

Me: What is your perspective on the value of deterrence as part of an overall security plan?

Mark: People are hardening their venues, their buildings, their businesses, and many people are doing it via screening. Over the past 15 years, we have seen that every professional sports league has gone to screening. They’ve been very aggressive with it and very successful keeping threats out. As threats continue to evolve and as firearms continue to be the instrument that people are using, more and more people are looking at that visible and effective system of screening.

Me: Let’s talk about the threats themselves. In May 2021, we saw 72 active shooter incidents in the U.S. – more than two a day. How should security professionals think about this wide range of threats and identify the ones that might be the most impactful?

Mark: No one security protocol is going to fit for everybody. Every venue, every business, every organization is going to have to approach it from an individual perspective. A lot of people are coming up with their matrix of what they believe to be their highest threat, what risk those threats present to them, where the gaps are, and what are the best ways to mitigate against that risk and how do you close up the gaps.

Me: What are some of the best practices you’ve seen?

Mark: Communication and decision making are both very important. We don’t want bad things to happen, but we know that they are likely going to occur. I think people are putting a lot of time and effort into having well-defined plans to react to a situation. I see more and more people coming up with Security Operations Centers or Joint Operation Centers: One central location as a coordination point for situational awareness is important.

Me: Let’s talk a little bit about technology. During the pandemic, we’ve seen a change in consumer expectations around touchless technology: Touchless payments, curbside pickup, touchless ticketing, etc. We’ve seen touchless security as an expectation of consumers, whether it’s fans, employees, or kids going back to school. We’ve seen a desire to use modern technology to make things fast and accurate. How have you seen technology, technology screening, and maybe even the Evolv Express® system affect and positively impact security at venues?

Mark: You want technology that is going to be impactful for the operator. During the pandemic, one of the things with Evolv Express screening is the fact that it is touchless. I think that has been impactful. We’re looking for technology that is going to get the job done efficiently and effectively. The less contact the better. The more you can enhance the patron experience, the client experience, all the better. That is the goal for Evolv. Making their community safer and making it a better experience. And, you don’t want to require the operators to have deep technical skills. You want this technology to be easy to understand, easy to operate, and easy to deal with.

The full webinar is available at Security Magazine.

The New Standard: Safety in Motion

Posted on July 1, 2021July 31, 2024 by admin

What if we lived in a world where we could work, learn and play together without the fear of weapons violence? This is what our founders Mike Ellenbogen, Co-Founder and Head of Technology, and Anil Chitkara, Co-Founder and Head of Corporate Development have set out to do. All of us at Evolv Technology share that same mission; transform security to enhance everyone’s life. This is our duty-of-care and we hold ourselves accountable to it.

As of today, six months into 2021, there have been 319 mass shootings, compared to 417 in all of 2019 (according to www.gunviolencearchive.org). The old standards for security aren’t keeping up with the security requirements of today. Many institutions that have used metal detectors for security realize they can no longer keep large numbers of people queuing in security lines. Aside from the potential health hazard lines create, this opens up an additional security vulnerability. Venues and enterprises that have never used security screening are now budgeting to keep their visitors safe. Traditional metal detector technology just cannot address the pace of life and the ubiquitous need for security in our daily lives.

We need new standards. We need security that continually improves – touchless, free-flowing, and frictionless technology – supported by a strong concept of operations and enforced by well-trained security personnel. The days of bag checks, wands, and body checks are unacceptable and biased. We must find the weapons, not the metal. Advanced sensors and artificial intelligence are at the forefront of this evolution. This is where we come in.

We are obsessed with our customers’ success and strive to do better and be better for them. That requires authenticity and real products that work. At Evolv we do what we say and say what we do. There is no room for bravado.

Evolv innovations are fueling the physical security transformation, disrupting the status quo. Evolv Express®, powered by Evolv Cortex AI™, can distinguish between metals that are personal items from weapons used for harm. No longer do visitors, fans, employees, and students need to stand in long lines to slog through metal detectors. They can move at the pace of life through our weapons detection systems, eliminating the potential soft targets long lines create to seamlessly flow through security. Life shouldn’t feel like airport security.

New standards call for a new brand. We’re calling it Safety in Motion. The modernized look is representative of our technological innovations in security screening, using cutting-edge technology for today’s security needs. Moreover, we wanted our new brand to reflect our mission: Transform security to enhance everyone’s life. We think it does, we hope you do too.

Evolv Technology to Provide a Safer, Frictionless Fan Experience at New State-of-the-Art Lower.com Field, Home of MLS Team Columbus Crew

Posted on June 29, 2021July 31, 2024 by admin

WALTHAM, Mass. (July 2, 2021) – Evolv Technology, the leader in weapons detection screening, today announced that Lower.com Field, will launch with its artificial intelligence-based system, Evolv Express®. Lower.com Field is a new $313.9 million stadium with the fan experience at the center of its design. The new state-of-the-art stadium was designed to transform the fan experience throughout their visit, starting with security. As supporters enter the stadium, they will experience enhanced safety and a free-flowing screening system by walking through at the pace of life. It is anticipated that more than 20,000 supporters will be screened prior to entering the downtown Columbus, Ohio venue, which is set to open at full capacity this Saturday, July 3, when the Columbus Crew hosts the New England Revolution for the venue’s inaugural match.

“The fan experience and safety were crucial elements to the design at Lower.com Field,” said Brandon Covert, Vice President – Information Technology for Haslam Sports Group. “Our goal is to provide a world class experience for all fans to enter and move around the stadium in a safe and secure manner. We had a unique opportunity to work with one of the most technologically advanced and best-in-class partners to bring our vision for the stadium to life. After testing Evolv Express weapons detection screening, we are confident in our belief that it will help us maintain a safe and frictionless experience for all fans attending matches and events at our new stadium.”

Built on its Evolv Cortex AI™ software platform, Evolv continually improves its customers’ security posture through machine learning and on-demand analytical insights in a way that legacy metal detectors and other analog screening systems cannot. Evolv’s innovative security screening technology has supported more than ten major sporting events in 2021, including the U.S. Open Golf Championship earlier this month.

“We are delighted to support the new state-of-the-art Lower.com Field with our frictionless weapons detection screening,” said Peter George, CEO, Evolv Technology. “Our partnership has been a perfect match with a mutual vision, to transform the fan experience, while ensuring what we believe are the highest levels of safety. We could not be more pleased to be a part of this inaugural day and look forward to seeing our vision come to life.”

Evolv’s systems have been used to screen more than 60 million people, second only to the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration in screening people in the U.S.

Evolv Express®:

Screens an unparalleled 3,600 people per hour, per system

Delivers up to a 70% reduction in cost

Is 10 times faster than traditional metal detectors

The new screening system will be in place on launch day. Supporters will not have to stop or empty their pockets unless directed to do so by security personnel.

About Evolv Technology

Evolv Technology is the world’s leading provider of AI touchless security screening systems that enhance safety without sacrificing the visitor, student and employee experience. Built on top of its Evolv Cortex AI™ software platform, the company provides an array of AI touchless screening technologies for weapons detection, identity verification and health-related threats. Led by a team of security industry leaders with a track record for delivering first-to-market products, Evolv’s investors include Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s firm, Finback Investment Partners, DCVC, General Catalyst Partners, Lux Capital, SineWave Ventures, Motorola Solutions and STANLEY Ventures. The company’s strategic channel partners include Motorola Solutions, STANLEY Security and Johnson Controls. Evolv Express® has earned industry accolades such as the 2020 Edison Awards™, two Campus Safety 2020 BEST Awards, Campus Security & Life Safety magazine’s Secure Campus 2020 Awards and Best Places to Work by Inc. Magazine and Built in Boston.

In March 2021, Evolv entered into a definitive agreement for a business combination with NewHold Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: NHIC) in a transaction that would result in Evolv becoming a U.S. publicly listed entity. The transaction is expected to close shortly after the second quarter of 2021, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. For more information visit https://nhicspac.com.

Evolv Technology, Evolv Express®, and Evolv Cortex AI™ are registered trademarks or trademarks of Evolv Technologies, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions.

For more information, visit https://evolvtechnology.com.

About NewHold Investment Corp.

NewHold Investment Corp. is a blank check company formed in 2020 for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. While the Company may pursue a business combination target in any business or industry, it focuses on identifying businesses in the industrial technology sector. For more information visit https://nhicspac.com.

About Columbus Crew 
Columbus Crew is the first club in Major League Soccer. The Crew is operated by The Edwards Family and Haslam Sports Group. The Black & Gold are the 2020 MLS Cup Champions. The Club won its first MLS Cup championship in 2008 and also won the 2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as well as MLS Supporters’ Shield titles in 2004, 2008 and 2009. The 2021 campaign is the Columbus Crew’s 26th season in MLS as well as the Club’s final season at Historic Crew Stadium – the first soccer-specific stadium in the United States – and the Crew’s inaugural season at Lower.com Field. 

Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws with respect to the proposed transaction between NewHold Investment Corp. (“NewHold”) and Evolv Technologies, Inc. (“Evolv”). These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “strategy,” “future,” “opportunity,” “plan,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this document, including but not limited to: (i) the risk that the transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect the price of NewHold’s securities, (iii) the failure to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the transaction, including the adoption of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of March 5, 2021 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among NewHold, Evolv and NHIC Merger Sub Inc., a Delaware corporation and a direct wholly owned subsidiary of NewHold, by the stockholders of NewHold, the satisfaction of the minimum trust account amount following redemptions by NewHold’s public stockholders and the receipt of certain governmental and regulatory approvals, (iv) the lack of a third party valuation in determining whether or not to pursue the transaction, (v) the inability to complete the PIPE investment in connection with the transaction, (vi) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement, (vii) the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transaction on Evolv Aviation’s business relationships, operating results and business generally, (viii) risks that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans and operations of Evolv and potential difficulties in Evolv employee retention as a result of the transaction, (ix) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Evolv or against NewHold related to the Merger Agreement or the transaction, (x) the ability to maintain the listing of NewHold’s securities on a national securities exchange, (xi) the price of NewHold’s securities may be volatile due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which NewHold plans to operate or Evolv operates, variations in operating performance across competitors, changes in laws and regulations affecting NewHold’s or Evolv’s business and changes in the combined capital structure, (xii) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations after the completion of the transaction, and identify and realize additional opportunities, and (xiii) the risk of downturns and a changing regulatory landscape in Evolv’s highly competitive industry. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of NewHold’s registration on Form S-1 (File No. 333-239822), the registration statement on Form S-4 discussed above and other documents filed by NewHold from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and except as required by law NewHold and Evolv assume no obligation and do not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Neither NewHold nor Evolv gives any assurance that either NewHold or Evolv or the combined company will achieve its expectations.

Any financial projections in this communication are forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions that are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond NewHold’s and Evolv’s control. While all projections are necessarily speculative, NewHold and Evolv believe that the preparation of prospective financial information involves increasingly higher levels of uncertainty the further out the projection extends from the date of preparation. The assumptions and estimates underlying the projected results are inherently uncertain and are subject to a wide variety of significant business, economic and competitive risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the projections. The inclusion of projections in this communication should not be regarded as an indication that NewHold and Evolv, or their representatives, considered or consider the projections to be a reliable prediction of future events.

Important Information for Investors and Stockholders

This document describes to a proposed transaction between NewHold and Evolv. This document does not constitute an offer to sell or exchange, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or exchange, any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or exchange would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. NewHold has filed a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC, which includes a document that serves as a prospectus and proxy statement of NewHold, referred to as a proxy statement/prospectus. When final, a proxy statement/prospectus will be sent to all NewHold stockholders. NewHold also will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. Before making any voting decision, investors and security holders of NewHold are urged to read the registration statement, the proxy statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction as they become available because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction.

Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the registration statement, the proxy statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC by NewHold through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, these documents, when available, can be obtained free of charge from NewHold upon written request to NewHold Investment Corp., c/o NewHold Enterprises, LLC, 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, Suite 2005, New York, New York 10017, Attn: Charlie Baynes-Reid, or by calling (212) 653-0153, or by email at info@newholdllc.com.

Participants in the Solicitation

NewHold and Evolv and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from NewHold’s stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction. A list of the names of the directors and executive officers of NewHold and information regarding their interests in the business combination will be contained in the proxy statement/prospectus. You may obtain free copies of these documents as described in the preceding paragraph.

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such other jurisdiction.

###

For Evolv Technology:

Investor Contacts:

Michael Bowen and Ryan Gardella
EvolvIR@icrinc.com

Media Contact:

Kristin Faulder (on behalf of Evolv Technology)

kristin@heurisay.com

For NewHold Investment Corp.:

Investor & Media Contact:

Amanda Tarplin
amanda@tarplinconsulting.com

Several major market professional sports teams, including NFL and MLB franchises, have partnered with the company

Evolv’s systems have been used to screen more than 60 million people, second only to the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration in screening people in the U.S.

Evolv Express®:

Screens an unparalleled 3,600 people per hour, per system

Delivers up to a 70% reduction in cost

Is 10 times faster than traditional metal detectors

The new screening system will be in place on launch day. Supporters will not have to stop or empty their pockets unless directed to do so by security personnel.

About Evolv Technology

Evolv Technology, Evolv Express®, and Evolv Cortex AI™ are registered trademarks or trademarks of Evolv Technologies, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions.

For more information, visit https://evolvtechnology.com.

About NewHold Investment Corp.

Forward-Looking Statements

Important Information for Investors and Stockholders

Participants in the Solicitation

###

For Evolv Technology:

Investor Contacts:

Michael Bowen and Ryan Gardella
EvolvIR@icrinc.com

Media Contact:

Kristin Faulder (on behalf of Evolv Technology)

kristin@heurisay.com

For NewHold Investment Corp.:

Investor & Media Contact:

Amanda Tarplin
amanda@tarplinconsulting.com

The Momentum Builds with Record Revenue and Motorola Partnership

Posted on June 17, 2021July 31, 2024 by admin

As we emerge from the pandemic, public health, safety, and security are driving structural changes to the way we interact with each other and the experience we demand in public environments. Not surprisingly, these structural changes are driving strong secular tailwinds for Evolv.

I see it every day — in our business, in conversations with our customers, and in the types of opportunities we see happening in the field. Venues are looking to reopen safely as pandemic-related restrictions are lifted, which has increased demand in our core industries. In addition, the new post-COVID reality of patrons expecting a frictionless and safe experience is creating pent-up demand in important new markets such as casinos.

Here are two examples: Last week, we announced record revenue and bookings as demand continues to accelerate for our transformative weapons detection screening technology. At the same time, Motorola announced our partnership, incorporating our solutions as a key screening technology for its Concealed Weapon Detection (CWD) video security and analytics portfolio. Let’s talk first about our record quarter.

The numbers are proof of the momentum I was describing earlier. In the first quarter of 2021, revenue was $3.9 million. By comparison, revenue for all of 2020 was $4.8 million. Bookings based on Total Contract Value (TCV) for the first quarter of 2021 were $8.2 million; for all of 2020, TCV Bookings totaled $21.3 million.

We expanded our total head count by 80% in the first quarter of 2021 and increased the sales quota by 25%. We achieved an increase of 177% in security screens over the prior 12-month period.

The numbers are only a part of the momentum story, however. The accelerated rate of reopening across North America (and the new way so many of these venues are reopening) is translating into significant demand. Our technology has proven itself to be transformative time and again in real-world settings for some of the most iconic venues and companies in the world.

Several major market professional sports teams—including members of MLB, MLS and the NFL—are now using Evolv to reopen with a safer, frictionless fan experience. Casinos are installing our solutions at a rapidly growing rate. Interest in Evolv has never been higher. At the same time, our ability to respond to and satisfy this growing demand has never been greater.

Whether Lincoln Center, L.L. Bean, Six Flags or the hundreds of other Evolv customers, the market is now following their lead in making their venues safer places to live, work, and play. And we’re benefitting from that in spades

Coming back to the partnership we announced with Motorola Solutions last week, however, highlights another angle of our momentum, around what I’ve called the digital threshold.

Traditional security products are too slow, costly, and error prone for today’s world. Even the most motivated well-trained guards can only do so much, especially when they are fighting a flood of nuisance alarms from outdated analog technology that can’t tell the difference between a gun and a phone.

Similar to the way in which the cybersecurity industry has adapted to a new era of digital threats, the physical security market is experiencing the same kind of transformation. As I have said before, this digital transformation will not only reduce costs, but also unlock innovations that transform the screening experience. Partnering with Motorola helps us accelerate this transformation.

There are many important aspects to the momentum we are experiencing. It allows us to hire more terrific people, is part of the story we tell as we raise money and approach our public listing, and it enables us to invest in our products and in delighting our customers.

But, perhaps more than anything, the momentum is providing us with a proof statement that we are fulfilling our mission of making the world a safer place to live, work, and play. I can speak for the entire team at Evolv when I say that we all take enormous pride and satisfaction in that.

(Re)open for Business: The Steps Venues are Taking to Ensure Visitor Safety and a Positive Experience

Posted on April 29, 2021July 31, 2024 by admin

Spring has now officially sprung and, along with the annual emergence from winter hibernation, comes a cautious sense of hope. The world is starting to wake up from our year-long battle and make plans again. There’s a sense that it’s time to have fun and escape reality for a little while. But along with this sense of hope and a readiness to have some fun comes new and heightened visitor expectations, and safety and security awareness.

Until now, security professionals have had to make a tradeoff between visitor security and visitor experience – what we refer to as the “protection paradox.” Achieving this balance is the crux of Evolv Technology’s mission: return confidence and peace of mind to people visiting public spaces by changing the paradigm of how security professionals can assure venues are safe from the most serious threats without compromising visitor experience.

IAAPA’s March Funworld article, Screening Entry Screenings, outlines how forward-thinking entertainment venues such as Hersheypark and the Georgia Aquarium embrace this vision by implementing Evolv’s AI-enabled touchless security screening systems. With Evolv’s technology, these venues are able to deliver improved security with minimal disruption to the visitor experience because our sensors and algorithms are smart enough to listen to their environments and continuously adapt.

Each venue is unique, they come in all sizes, shapes, ages, and infrastructures; security technology needs to be flexible in order to work in all of these environments, without exception. According to our founder Anil Chitkara, Evolv’s advanced sensors and machine learning algorithm enable our systems to distinguish between threats, such as firearms and explosive devices, from everyday personal items, like keys and phones. Because of this, Evolv Express® is able to screen up to 3,600 people per hour, 10 times faster than legacy metal detectors.

This means visitors can walk through the detection systems at a normal pace and in groups. They don’t have to empty their pockets. They don’t have to surrender their bags. When the system detects something concerning, it alerts staff with a picture of the guest and the location of where to conduct a secondary search. With this image-aided alarm resolution, guards are able to take swift action and have less concern about missing a potential weapon. The results are significantly fewer false positives, which creates less stress, and dramatically reduces physical interaction between guards and visitors, alleviates long lines and enables critical social distancing at venue entry points.

Without saying it, people are saying, “don’t touch me!” This is the age of the touchless customer experience, where security priorities have shifted toward safety AND health. Touchless technology certainly isn’t new. What’s new is the subtle shift from this technology being what consumers want, to what consumers need.

In a recently conducted Harris Poll survey, 95% of individuals who had attended a ticketed venue stated they felt it’s somewhat to very important to pass through metal detectors. However, 68% of survey respondents felt metal detectors required their belongings to be touched by a security guard, 65% felt metal detectors created crowds that violated social distancing guidelines, nearly half (49%) were not willing to accept security screening that forced families to be separated during security and 44% were not willing to accept being searched by physical pat down during security screening.

As people return to recently opened venues, they will evaluate their arrival experience along a continuum of touch – high, moderate or none. Venues with invasive security and hands-on inspections tell visitors that they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Modern entrances, with a smooth, touchless flow of screened visitors is what the customer wants.

The desire to minimize physical contact is driving demand for touchless interaction. By employing technology like Evolv’s AI-based touchless security screening systems, venues like Hersheypark, Six Flags Theme Parks and Georgia Aquarium create family-friendly environments where visitors feel safe, aware they are being protected but not intrusively reminded of it.

For more on the topic of reopening venues, we invite you to download our Harris Poll whitepaper and read the associated blog.

This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Evolv Technology from September 18 – October 3, 2020 among adults ages 18 and older who attended an event at a ticketed venue in 2019 (n=506). Results are weighted to be representative of population under study based on US census population targets on education, age-gender, race/ethnicity, region, and income.

Transforming Human Security and Saving Lives

Posted on April 27, 2021July 31, 2024 by admin

Evolv Earns Edison Award for Completely Reinventing Threat Detection

Last week I had the distinct honor of accepting, on behalf of everyone at Evolv Technology, the Edison Award we won last year for the “game-changing innovation” that our Evolv Express® system and Evolv Cortex AI™ software platform represent. We got word of the award last spring, but there was no public event at which to actually receive it – so while I participated in this year’s ceremony from afar, it was gratifying to virtually bring the award home.

That’s because the Edison Award is one you want to display proudly for all to see. It’s one of the few awards that truly recognizes significant technical innovation in products that solve actual problems in the real world, as opposed to in a lab. And herein lies our story.

As the original announcement said, the award goes to companies that are “changing the world with their incredible vision, their commitment to innovation, and the introduction of new products and services that will make consumers’ lives safer, healthier and more sustainable.”

Our second-generation product, Evolv Express, for which we earned this award, is a game-changing weapons detection system. With its’ ability to scan up to 3,600 people an hour and the intelligence to differentiate between weapons and personal items – without forcing people to empty pockets and bags or break stride – it’s improving security at the speed and scale required in this post-pandemic world.

Evolv Technology is leading the digital transformation of physical security, one that is touchless and addresses today’s threat of pandemic viruses as well as concealed weapons. By harnessing our technical innovations in sensors and AI to overcome the widely recognized deficiencies of outdated security screening products, Evolv’s technology enables ticketed venues, workplaces and schools to vastly improve their ability to keep their customers, employees, guests, students and staff safe all while rapidly and more naturally enter these venues. And, it’s all done in a way that integrates with the way people want to live, and more importantly, the way they deserve to live.

Edison, Bell and Early Metal Detectors

The Edison Award, of course, is named after Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors of all time, and holder of some 1,093 U.S. patents. Evolv Express is an entirely new approach to metal detection technology first created by another renowned inventor and Edison contemporary, Alexander Graham Bell.

While Bell is best known as the inventor of the telephone, he was also experimenting with a metal detection device around the time in 1881 when President James Garfield was shot by a disgruntled diplomat. The bullet was lodged in the president’s chest and for weeks physicians attempted to find and extract the bullet.

Bell had successfully used his device to detect bullets in sides of beef and shrapnel in Civil War veterans, so he thought it may be of use in Garfield’s case. But the device failed for a simple reason: unbeknownst to Bell at the time, underneath the horse-hair mattress on which the president was lying was another made of steel wires. Those wires interfered with Bell’s metal detector, which was based on electrical inductors, rendering him unable to find the bullet. In other words, the technology couldn’t separate the signal from the noise – we’ll come back to this technical challenge.

By the 1920s, metal detectors using radio frequency (RF) waves began to come on the scene. While they have been refined over time, the metal detectors we all pass through today are based on that same 100-year-old technology.

Interference: An Age-old Issue

And that technology still suffers from the same challenges that rendered Bell’s detector unable to help President Garfield….interference. As we all know, anytime you pass through a metal detector, you are asked to empty your pockets and remove any metal – keys, phones, wallets and so on, and pass through in single file. In effect, all those personal items are interfering with the detector’s ability to detect the real threat: weapons. Legacy technology and an outdated approach certainly don’t integrate with the way people live today.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

In 2013, after the Sandy Hook school shooting and Boston Marathon bombing and amid terrorists shifting targets to nightclubs and stadiums around the globe, we founded Evolv with the singular goal of keeping people safe by finding a way to detect weapons at places that aren’t mandated to do so – like nightclubs, schools, workplaces, sports and concert venues.

These kinds of venues, companies and schools need security that does not disrupt the public gathering experience and avoids the problems that come with traditional security approaches such as crowds, single-file lines, bag checks, wands and invasive pat downs.

We knew there was a hurdle to get over. If the detection device presents too much hassle and creates lines, people won’t embrace it. It needed to be seamless, accurate and fit within venue operations. It had to balance the desire to improve safety with the need to maintain or even improve the visitor entrance experience.

Evolv has a Singular Goal

Starting out with a small team of colleagues who are world-class in understanding detection challenges, we had the idea to combine state-of-the-art sensors with smart software and machine learning algorithms to solve this problem. After refinement and iteration, we’ve delivered on our goal: detection technology that is all at once accurate and frictionless. And can perform reliably under real world conditions.

Now, About that Signal to Noise Problem

When I say accurate, I mean we can reliably differentiate a weapon from a phone and the other objects we all carry on a daily basis, and we’ve accounted for variables such as wind and vibration that may throw off other forms of RF-based sensors. And by frictionless, I mean you no longer have to empty pockets, go through screening single-file, or even slow down your normal walking speed.

Security Can Only be Effective if it Works in the Real World

Innovation in our space has to address often competing requirements: balance the physics of detection, address the realities of the all the stuff we carry, and support the operational needs of the customer. And it has to satisfy all three in a way that achieves high throughput, quickly and more securely.

That, I would argue – and the Edison Award folks apparently agree – is game-changing technology. And it certainly helps to make us all safer.

So, I proudly accepted the Edison Award last week on behalf of all the smart, dedicated people on the Evolv team who helped develop this technology, refine it in the lab, and bring it out into the field, where it can solve real-world problems. I hope both Edison and Bell would be impressed.

The Future of Security After Mass Reopenings

Posted on April 22, 2021July 31, 2024 by admin

Using AI to Stay Safe

On April 21, 2021, Evolv Technology CEO, Peter George, joined Bloomberg Quicktake Anchor, Tim Stenovec, to discuss Evolv Technology’s touchless AI-based security screening technology.

Transcript

Tim Stenovec (Quicktake Anchor):
Well, this week, a leader in AI touchless security screening announced an update to let customers comprehensively review, analyze, and collect valuable data on their security checkpoints. Evolv Technology says it’s screened more than 50 million people, second only to the TSA in screening people in the US. The company recently announced plans to go public using a SPAC merger with New Hold Investments. Joining me now is evolve technology CEO, Peter George. Hey Peter, thanks so much for taking the time and joining us on Quicktake this afternoon. Where would people have interacted with Evolv Technologies products without even knowing about it?

Peter George (Evolv Technology CEO):
Well, they would know about it because they’d walked through our venues, Tim, places like stadiums, performing arts venue, schools. What would be different about walking into that venue through our system is that they’d walk into the venue and not break stride, no lines, nobody would touch their stuff, and we be able to screen for threats without them breaking stride and without them divesting of the things that they normally carry.

Peter George (Evolv Technology CEO):
And that is a transformative experience.

Tim Stenovec (Quicktake Anchor):
Yeah. I mean, I’m looking at the website right now, and I know that I’ve certainly walked through these machines at museums and venues. I wonder, though, what it’s fair to call these, right? Are these metal detectors? Not really, right?

Peter George (Evolv Technology CEO):
No. Their threat detection security screening devices, advanced sensors powered by artificial intelligence. So we can find the needle in the haystack and the needle is the weapon amongst all the things that people are carrying.

Tim Stenovec (Quicktake Anchor):
Right.

Peter George (Evolv Technology CEO):
And the magic is the ability to discriminate between a phone and a firearm. And that’s really, really hard. We’re all carrying phones and keys and things that are metal. Metal detectors are really good at finding all metal, but they’re really bad at finding weapons, and we find weapons really well.

Tim Stenovec (Quicktake Anchor):
How do you do it? What’s the technology that you use?

Peter George (Evolv Technology CEO):
Sure. So we’ve combined very, very advanced sensors. As you know, there’s been a lot of advancements in sensor technology and cameras, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. We fuse those all together. And we, as I said, could find the needle in the haystack. So as people walk through the venue, we’re creating different kinds of telemetry, the fragmentation of the metallic composition, the shape. Oftentimes, we’re looking for the barrel of a gun and when we find it, we can make a quick determination. But if it’s anything else that’s either metal or anything else they’re carrying, they can walk in without it. And so the ability to find a weapon on people while they’re moving without them taking their things out of their pockets is really, really important. You can imagine it completely transforms the entry into venues, where there are lots of people. We basically make lines go away and make the people in the venues on the other side super safe.

Tim Stenovec (Quicktake Anchor):
Okay. This sounds pretty great. I got to tell you, I haven’t been in an airport in a long time, but I know that the last time I was in an airport at TSA, this is not the technology they were using. There was a long line. Why doesn’t TSA use Evolv Technology?

Peter George (Evolv Technology CEO):
Sure. So we’re going to let the TSA worry about the sterile environment and the sterile environment is making sure nothing gets on a plane with 500 people and goes 10,000 feet in the air. The founders of this company actually had spent a lot of time in aviation and recognize that there was a big need for safety outside of aviation, where people were gathering, stadiums, performing arts venues, theme parks, and using traditional technology like metal detectors, which by the way, Tim, was invented 90 years ago, to solve that problem just didn’t make any sense.

Peter George (Evolv Technology CEO):
So it’s a really hard problem to solve, which is to find weapons on people that the weapons are concealed while they’re moving, and we solved the problem. It took us five years to do it and about a hundred million dollars. And so we’re in a great position now to democratize security and bring security to all those other venues, not like airports, that when people come back from this pandemic, they want to gather safely and we can allow that to happen.

Tim Stenovec (Quicktake Anchor):
I want to understand though about why it wouldn’t be in an airport right now and why TSA wouldn’t use it. Is it because the technology isn’t as sensitive as a metal detector? You use the term a sterile environment.

Peter George (Evolv Technology CEO):
Yeah. So we are in some airports today. In fact, seven of them. People are using our technology for employee screening.

Tim Stenovec (Quicktake Anchor):
Okay.

Peter George (Evolv Technology CEO):
So people could use it in their airport, but most of our focus is in the 0 billion TAM, which is non-aviation TAM, non-regulated.

Tim Stenovec (Quicktake Anchor):
You say TAM, total addressable market?

Peter George (Evolv Technology CEO):
Yeah, that’s right. Yeah. That’s right. Yeah.

Tim Stenovec (Quicktake Anchor):
What about this SPAC here? There was a surge in SPACs over the last few months. We saw a real dip in the most recent time period. Why is SPAC the right way to go public?

Peter George (Evolv Technology CEO):
Yeah. So look, we knew we were going to raise money and/or go public in the next couple of years. Their both certainty to close, and then timeframe, time to the capital we thought was super important. And the SPAC vehicle provided us that in a really a terrific way. As you know, we’re helping reopen America. And now’s the moment for people to understand who we are and how we can help them. So we felt by fully capitalizing the company, we can take advantage of the accelerated growth that we have in the market and help customers reopen safely. So we’re thrilled about this. Our plan is to become a public company sometime in Q2, probably in June. We’re really excited about that and working very closely with all kinds of venues today helping them open up.

Tim Stenovec (Quicktake Anchor):
Yeah, well, it’s certainly cool technology and I hope to be back in museums and concert venues soon as well. Evolv Technology CEO, Peter George. Hey Peter, thanks so much for taking the time, and for joining us on Quicktake.

Taking Pride in Keeping People Safe

Posted on April 16, 2021July 31, 2024 by admin

I’ve spent the better part of the past seven years in the security industry, the last four helping to keep people alive. Before joining Evolv in February 2020, I was with a company that specialized in detecting metal contraband for prisons. We did searches to find cell phones and other foreign objects, including knives and razor blades that inmates were using to hurt one another and hurt staff members.

While working for that company, I imagined a product that would work like the Evolv Express®: A system that was touchless and unobtrusive, yet still capable of stopping the most dangerous threats. At the time, I didn’t believe such a product existed, except in my imagination. In reality, I wasn’t sure a system like that was even possible.

Doing what I was doing, ferromagnetic detection, I knew how difficult it would be to design a product that would intentionally miss all of the benign metal objects we all carry and just detect concealed handguns, bombs and large knives. Then I met with the team at Evolv. I asked to see the product. I saw it in action and said to myself: “I have to get this job.”

I am one of those people who has to be passionate about my work. I’ve never been so passionate about a mission like this before, and I’ve never worked like this before because I’ve never cared like this before. I get enormous satisfaction out of helping people. Helping them do their jobs better, get home earlier so they can be with their families, and doing my part to keep people safe.

“We need help”

I view my job as working with customers to help get people into venues more quickly while trying to locate concealed weapons they are not supposed to have—to create a clean environment. With our system, customers are able to treat every visitor the same—everyone walks across the same digital threshold. And everyone is treated with respect.

During all of my site visits, pilots, go lives and normal operations, I’ve watched more than a million people walk through our systems. They were all at a given venue for the right reasons, to enjoy a show, or do their jobs, or spend time with family and friends at a theme park or ballgame. I want to be able to help more and more venues prevent another active shooter event like the ones we’ve seen recently in Boulder and Atlanta.

I have a personal connection with all of my customers and a personal stake in their success. I could talk about my customers all day, but I’d like to focus on one that is close to my heart. In December, we received a call from a high-end shopping destination in Atlanta. That’s my home turf, where I grew up. That’s the mall I went to all my life. A mall where my mom and dad go, my cousins, other family members, friends and people in my community.

They said, “we need help.” There had been a string of shootings, including one where sadly, a person was killed. My colleague and I went to see them and arranged to set up an Evolv Express at one entry point. We detected several concealed weapons instantly and many over the course of a few days. Prior to our engagement, my mom told me, “I’m not going to that mall anymore.” Friends said the same thing. We now have systems at multiple entry points and my friends and family say they are feeling easier and more confident about returning to their favorite shopping destination. I applaud the mall ownership for their forward-leaning approach and dedication to creating a safe environment and the best experience possible for their patrons and staff.

“We are all here to make a difference”

My family means the world to me. My mom and dad are my role models and heroes. The last thing I could ever think of is someone coming into a venue and taking them away from me. It sickens me when I hear about these things, these senseless acts like the one in Boulder. I know with the work we are doing at Evolv, we have a chance to stop these events from taking place at other venues. It gives me an enormous sense of pride and gratitude to know I am doing everything I can to prevent these senseless acts of violence. And I know that all of the people at Evolv feel the same way. We’re all here to make a difference. We have our mission, and our mission is to keep people safe.