Four years ago, Hatch Graham, the co-founder and CEO of Lassen Peak, captivated Patrick and Tim with the audacious vision he painted to apply a new technology to important societal issues — an endeavor that would demand unparalleled creativity and relentless effort. And today, we are thrilled to announce Madrona’s investment and partnership with Hatch and Bellevue-based Lassen Peak.
Lassen Peak has developed a handheld device for concealed weapons detection that operates at a distance without physical contact. A simple way to describe their initial product is to take a large airport security scanner and make it fit in the palm of one hand so it is portable, battery operated and costs 100x less. Using the latest imaging software and AI, weapons can be highlighted on a person while preserving personal privacy and not displaying (nor storing) any private images of a person’s body.
Such a device was never thought possible, but soon public safety officers worldwide will have an essential tool to engage with the public in a safe and respectful way and de-escalate the need for use of force. Lassen’s device can detect weapons from a distance, and thus, potentially contentious, and dangerous weapons searches can be conducted in a safe, efficient, and dignified manner. Interacting respectfully with the public helps build trust in the communities that are served.
We are excited about the entire Lassen Peak team. Hatch has had an incredible career as a world-class inventor, engineer, entrepreneur, and CEO. Hatch has a long relationship with Patrick; they first met years ago in Silicon Valley when Patrick had the honor of serving on a board with Hatch. Lassen Peak’s cofounder and Chief Scientist is Dr. Ehsan Afhshari. Ehsan is a widely published world-expert in ultra-high frequency microelectronics. He is also a professor at the University of Michigan who earlier in his life received the Presidential Medallion as the #1 engineering student in all of Iran before moving to the USA and earning his PhD at Caltech. Ehsan and Hatch subsequently recruited a world-class engineering team, led by CTO and SVP of Product, Ryan Kearny, who was previously the CTO of F5 Networks. It’s been a delight for Tim, Patrick, Sabrina and Babak to get to know Lassen Peak’s team and see them in action, in fact Babak knew Ehsan years ago from being in related research communities.
Aside from the team and technology, Madrona was attracted to the inherently global opportunity available to Lassen Peak. Going international for many companies can often be full of roadblocks due to the uniqueness of the product, cultural differences, and regulations. In Lassen Peak’s case, their product can easily be deployed globally. It’s not only the USA that has a weapons problem in society. For example, it is widely reported that England, Australia, Sweden, and other countries that prohibit handgun ownership have serious weapons issues involving concealed knives.
The overall market size is huge, and we feel Lassen Peak’s product can become a standard-issue device for many organizations, similar to the deployment of body cameras over the last decade. There are roughly 18,000 law enforcement agencies in America, and ten’s of millions of law enforcement and security personnel worldwide.
Among the many things we like about how Hatch has built Lassen Peak is its multi-stakeholder mentality from day zero. The issue of weapons and crimes can be a controversial topic. Tackling this head-on, Hatch has brought together experts and gathered feedback from all parts of society across community groups, governments, public safety organizations, attorneys, and law enforcement officers. He has assembled diverse inputs from a broad spectrum of advisers and board members, including Scott Greenwood, the General Counsel Emeritus of the American Civil Liberties Union, Sonia Quinones, President of the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE), and Graham McNulty, former National Police Chief Council Lead for Knife Crime and Gangs in the UK, to name a few.
In our diligence, we had the honor and privilege of speaking with many individuals and organizations in the Lassen Peak ecosystem, and the reception among all the constituents was universally positive. The enthusiasm around the potential for Lassen Peak was overwhelming.
Lassen Peak fits squarely within Madrona’s ongoing investment themes. Lassen Peak’s expertise in wireless, microelectronics, AI and computer vision, combined with intense customer focus, is a combination we are excited to back. Lassen Peak builds on our heritage of investing in companies like Impinj, Echodyne, and Isilon.
When you match great founding teams and big important markets with innovative technology underlying the product, great companies can arise! We are excited at the opportunity to help Lassen Peak on its continuing journey! Please watch www.lassenpeak.com for updates!
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