AURA, South African security and medical response marketplace, has raised a Series A fundraising round of ZAR 62 million (US $4 million) to support its worldwide development aspirations.
AURA is a marketplace that allows anybody to use a connected device to find the closest verified private and public security and medical response unit to their location – anywhere, anytime.
“South Africa has one of the most advanced private security and emergency response industries which has the capacity to ensure safety to a greater number of people who might not currently have access to it,” said co-founder Warren Myers.
“AURA enables seamless and affordable ways for anyone to get immediate and trusted access to both private and public emergency response resources in an emergency, creating a world where everyone is safe.”
With over 400,000 active members on its network, the startup is already the top marketplace of its sort in South Africa. After financing its Series A round, which was headed by MultiChoice Group (MCG), KLT Holdings, and Buffet Investments, the firm moved to East Africa and the United Kingdom (UK) early this year and is now contemplating additional development.
“We are gearing some of the funding towards hiring top talent to head up each new region while growing teams in established regions – especially our tech team. The result is stronger relationships and value propositions for suppliers at all levels in the marketplace,” said co-founder Ryan Green.
The reasons for MultiChoice’s investment in AURA were stated by Calvo Mawela, Group CEO of MultiChoice.
“To accelerate the evolution of our ecosystem by offering additional value-added services to our customers, we are investing in scalable and innovative technology platforms like AURA. Not only does it strengthen our service offering and enhance long-term value creation for shareholders, but it also drives economic development and job creation,” he said.
