Who Is RapidSOS?

RapidSOS creates technology that protects lives by connecting people, their devices, and their families directly to first responders in emergencies.

Inspired by the heroic work of tens of thousands of first responders worldwide, our team has spent the past eight years partnering with public safety organizations to build technology that empowers stronger, safer communities.

The idea behind RapidSOS originated in a rural farming community in Indiana, the hometown of founder and CEO, Michael Martin.

After college, Michael chased a career in New York City, only to find himself barely escaping a mugging late one night while walking home. Only a few months later, Michael's father Charlie climbed onto the roof of his childhood home during a major snowstorm, clearing the snow to prevent the roof from caving in.

Charlie fell from the roof, shattering his hip and breaking his wrist. Alone in freezing temperatures and blowing wind, he had no ability to call 911. It wasn't until that evening when Michael's mother Sue came home from work, that she was able to call 911 while frantically trying to warm Charlie's body.

Moved by these individual experiences, Michael spent the next three months cold-calling 911 agencies trying to learn about the challenge. That effort expanded as he attended grad school to develop the concept, working with a growing team out of the Harvard Innovation Lab and MIT Entrepreneurship Center.

Whether he drove 3,000 miles across the country to meet with them or attended conferences like the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) conference in Tennessee, first responders were eager to help Michael solve this challenge. Again, and again, the public safety community would step up to answer millions of questions and test early iterations of RapidSOS technology.

After Eight years and over $100 million of investment, over 5,000 first responders have partnered with RapidSOS to develop the world's first emergency response data platform.

Today we work with over 4,800 emergency communications centers in multiple countries, managing over 150 million emergencies annually with data from over 350 million devices. Together with public safety and our partners certified as RapidSOS Ready, we're protecting lives and empowering safer, smarter communities for all.