Biofire raises $17m and emerges from stealth

an update from our ceo, kai kloepfer

I’m excited to share that Biofire is emerging from three years in stealth mode, with Axios Pro Rata and TechCrunch helping us announce that we’ve raised over $17 million in seed funding to bring our Smart Gun to market - the largest private investment in a firearm technology startup in history.

Biofire is the first to build a smart handgun from the ground up with fully integrated, instantly unlocking, state-of-the-art biometrics. Our Smart Gun instantly unlocks for users authorized by its owner, but remains locked for all others, including children. 

Biofire’s unique approach grows more critical by the day. As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Aurora theater shooting - the tragic event which rocked my community and served as the catalyst to found Biofire - gun-related causes have recently become the leading cause of death for children and teens in America¹.

We are not alone in demanding a new approach. Gun owners across America have shared their stories with me - they want a better, faster choice to keep their families safe - with 56% of gun owners and half of all US adults supporting the development of smart guns². The Biofire Smart Gun will offer that new choice to consumers, powered by our radical approach to safety and reliability.

Biofire has garnered bipartisan support from more than 50 VCs, private family offices, and high net-worth individuals, including early funders of Google, Airbnb, SpaceX, Tesla, Flatiron Health, and GitHub. Key backers include Biofire board member Lt. General Guy C. Swan III (ret.), Founder of SV Angel and the Smart Tech Challenges Foundation Ron Conway, and bestselling author Gavin de Becker, widely regarded as the nation's leading expert on preventing and managing violence.

“When considering whether a Smart Gun is right for them, the first two things that gun owners are going to look at are safety and reliability. Biofire’s engineers hail from backgrounds in defense, military, and aerospace - they won’t release the product until it has cleared a rigorous testing regimen and is proven to work safely and as required, every single time.”

— Lt. General Guy C. Swan III (ret.)

This funding has given me the opportunity to bring together an incredible group of over 40 engineers and operators whose deep experience and dedication to the pursuit of firearm safety continues to be critical to our success. In past roles, Biofire employees have built satellites, cars, medical devices, rockets, robots, supersonic jets, and, of course, firearms. We will be doubling in size by the end of 2022, so if you or someone you know is excited by building the future of firearms, please check out our 20+ open roles here:

“People today have good reason to explore every practical measure for improving their personal safety. Biofire’s Smart Gun will appeal to those who want to take immediate action to defend themselves and their families without introducing the extra risk of misuse and accidents. For those people, peace of mind is priceless.”

— Gavin de Becker

Biofire is also excited to announce the launch of Biofire First Access, an exclusive beta program with participants from the special forces, law enforcement, and executive protection communities. If you would like to be considered for inclusion in this program please submit your application here:

We will be opening up orders for our product soon. If you would like to be first in line to to own a Biofire Smart Gun, join our waitlist to receive early access before the general public:

Thank you for your support for Biofire’s mission. I look forward to sharing more exciting details about our work as we get closer to releasing our product to Americans.

Best,
Kai