Verkada Inc., a startup that helps enterprises secure their facilities and spot air quality issues, has raised funding at a $5.8 billion valuation.

The company didn’t disclose the size of the round. CNBC reported today that Verkada raised $100 million. CapitalG, an Alphabet Inc. fund that invests in late-stage startups, led the investment.

Verkada sells more than a dozen devices that enterprises use to prevent unauthorized access to their facilities. The company’s hardware portfolio includes smart locks, cameras, alarms and supporting equipment such as battery packs. Verkada says that more than 2 million of its devices have been deployed worldwide.

Security devices such as cameras usually require at least two cables: a power cord and an Ethernet link that connects them to the corporate network. Setting up the necessary wiring is often difficult in outdoor environments. Verkada provides systems called gateways that reduce the amount of cabling necessary to operate its devices, which speeds up installation.

Customers may customize the company’s gateways by attaching optional accessories. One add-on makes it possible to draw power from a streetlight’s electrical circuit. Another accessory, an LTE antenna, can be pointed in the direction of the nearest cell tower to improve connection quality. 

Administrators can manage Verkada’s devices using a software platform called Command. It includes an artificial intelligence search engine that takes natural language prompts as input. According to Verkada, users can ask Command to shift through video streams for objects of interest or retrieve footage from a specific location and time frame.

The platform also provides other AI features. It can review data from the Verkada sensors at a given location and activate an on-site alarm when suspicious activity is detected. Administrators can also activate the alarms manually via an app.

Alarms connect to Command via a Verkada-developed system called the BP52. According to the company, the device can be equipped with a backup cellular communicator and battery packs. Those modules prevent the BP52 from going offline during an infrastructure outage. 

Verkada’s other main focus area is air quality monitoring. It sells sensor modules that detect allergens, toxic mold and dust. The devices also track certain other environmental parameters such as average temperature.

The company disclosed on occasion of its funding round that it recently achieved $1 billion in annualized bookings, a measure of future revenue. Its installed base comprises more than 30,000 organizations. It will reportedly use the capital to develop new AI features. 

Photo: Verkada