Flock Safety and its long-time venture capital partner, Bedrock Capital, announced on Thursday that the company has secured an additional $275 million in funding at a valuation of $7.5 billion.

Flock develops and provides computer vision-enabled video surveillance technology, which is utilized by law enforcement agencies, businesses, property management companies, and other organizations. The company is perhaps best known for its automatic license plate recognition technology, but it also offers gunshot detection technology marketed to schools and has recently acquired Aerodome, a public safety drone company.

Founded in 2017, Flock participated in Y Combinator’s program the same year and has since experienced rapid growth. According to Flock spokesperson Holly Beilin, the company surpassed $300 million in annual recurring revenue last year, representing a 70% year-over-year increase.

The Atlanta-based startup has now raised over $950 million in total funding, according to PitchBook data, with its previous valuation standing at $4.8 billion a year ago. This latest funding round saw the participation of returning investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Greenoaks, Meritech Capital, Matrix Partners, and Y Combinator.

As a developer of surveillance technology, Flock has faced controversy. For example, the ACLU has expressed concerns regarding the potential for mass surveillance enabled by Flock’s products, and last year urged the company to allow independent evaluation of its technology. Additionally, privacy advocates in Norfolk, Virginia, are currently suing to prevent the deployment of Flock’s technology in their city.

Flock is also facing a wrongful termination lawsuit from the mayor of a small town in California, as previously reported by TechCrunch.

Despite these challenges, Flock has long been a favorite among venture capital firms.

Bedrock Capital founder Geoff Lewis recalled how he traveled to Atlanta in 2018 to persuade Flock co-founder Garrett Langley to accept a $10 million Series A-1 investment, one of the first investments made by Lewis’ new firm. Although Langley had just closed Flock’s Series A round, he ultimately accepted the investment, which was made at a “totally insane” $60 million valuation, according to Bedrock. This valuation was approximately triple the valuation of the A round just a few months prior. Langley has since accepted over $164 million in investments from Bedrock.

It’s worth noting that Lewis, who previously worked at Founders Fund, has also invested in other notable companies, including OpenAI, Rippling, and Mach Industries, through Bedrock.

Meanwhile, David Ulevitch, who leads the American Dynamism fund at a16z, has also led funding rounds for Flock. In 2021, Ulevitch and a16z growth VC David George praised Flock’s mission, stating that “Beyond protecting property, Flock Safety is literally helping to save lives.”

More recently, Y Combinator’s Garry Tan took to LinkedIn to applaud Flock’s success in fighting crime, citing its claimed success rate.

According to Beilin, it is Flock’s revenue growth, in addition to its public safety products, that has led investors to “continue to double and triple down on Flock.”