In Force Technology is raising capital through a common equity offering with a pre-money valuation of $11,998,426. While this valuation is not among the highest for startups at this stage, it is higher than we would like to see considering there are already a number of competitors attempting to offer similar products. Thus, the company’s price score is middle of the road.

In Force Technology’s primary target market is the vast array of public schools across the United States — 130,930 elementary and secondary schools as of 2018 — as well as the corresponding police departments. In Force Technology also plans to sell to colleges and universities, municipal buildings, courthouses, and religious buildings. The size of this specific market is difficult to gauge. In Force Technology estimates that, based on its business model, its target public school market size comes in at $517 million, and that all available target markets come in at an estimated $1.8 billion in recurring SaaS revenue. Even at this upper end, the market opportunity is not very substantial. As a result, In Force Technology’s market score is its lowest across all five metrics.

In Force Technology was co-founded by father-son team Donald and Brandon Flanagan. Donald Flanagan serves as chief government officer and chairman for the company. He has a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Donald Flanagan has worked with startups before, including lobbying and government relations firm Brandon Associates LLC (now closed). He has also worked with more established security interests such as the Airborne Law Enforcement Association, Lockheed Martin, and the United States Department of Defense.

Brandon Flanagan, company president and CEO, holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He spent seven years as vice president of business development with Brandon Associates LLC, where he worked with his father. He has taken much of the credit for In Force Technology’s early success, portraying himself as the vision behind the company. 

Gunnar Link serves as In Force Technology’s new CFO. Link holds a Master’s degree in Applied Economics from Northeastern University. He has held a number of CFO and consultant roles with such companies as Deloitte Consulting, as well as smaller companies based in the Boston area. 

Donald and Brandon Flanagan bring a strong foundation in the security industry, as well as experience working with government entities. There is also past entrepreneurial experience between the pair, which bodes well for the company. Due to these factors, In Force Technology scored strongly in the team metric.

Panic button applications is a very crowded space with a number of competitors seeking to sell panic-button style technology to schools, including Hero911 and Rave Mobile Safety. One company in an adjacent space, Kologik, has tangled In Force Technology up in lawsuits over trademark infringement of its COPSync system. In Force Technology has a distinct lack of patents for its software but has differentiated from the competition simply by being a faster service, which is key.

In Force Technology has also smartly diversified its offerings by marketing to more than just schools. By offering its SaaS solution to municipal buildings, for example, it expands its verticals. In Force Technology is also notable in its partnerships with crisis response and school solutions organizations such as the School Superintendents Association. Balancing the worrying lack of patents against the higher speed and wider target audience, In Force Technology’s differentiators score is above average.

Investors might expect In Force Technology’s earnings to have suffered in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered schools across the nation and cut down on the need for such panic-button software. However, In Force Technology’s revenue actually expanded from $166,802 in 2019 to $373,632 last year. In Force Technology has seen a 95% retention rate with its customers and, as of January 2021, had about 70 school districts as customers. These successes are promising markers for future profitability.

The company’s sales cycle has proven to be a long one, however, and in securing this early traction, In Force Technology has racked up considerable debt. This is mostly short-term debt in the amount of $1,437,897. However, the company’s overall traction and financial growth are encouraging. Thus, In Force Technology scores very highly in the performance metric.

The Kologik lawsuits have doubtless slowed In Force Technology’s early momentum and accounted for some of its debt. The company is also getting in a few years behind the game next to competitors. These are significant challenges, and with In Force Technology’s target market being so specific, it will need to capture every piece it can.

In the short term, In Force Technology seems likely to build on its early traction. However, that success could be slowed depending on trends as students return to schools. As schools reopen, it is possible that incidents of gun violence might significantly decrease from what they were before the pandemic. Schools are most likely to invest in software like IN FORCE911 if they are pressured to do so by parents and teachers. If incidents of mass shootings are down permanently, that will be good news for the nation but will likely threaten In Force Technology’s profitability as a whole, causing it and its competitors to fight all the more fiercely for shrinking markets.

It should also be noted that the technology used in In Force Technology’s and its competitors’ software is improving all the time. The company’s competitors could decrease their own response time to match or surpass In Force Technology’s, in which case In Force Technology’s strongest advantage could evaporate.

Even now, there remains strong public pressure for schools to keep children safe. Although school budgets have been cut, school districts have been willing to invest in expensive modifications and defenses to counter threats. That trend seems likely to continue as students return to the classroom.

While the pandemic has meant a temporary lull in mass shootings by some measurements (defined as resulting in four or more deaths), gun violence as a whole has actually escalated. This indicates it is likely to be business as usual once schools and other public places reopen. Parents will presumably be putting pressure on schools to keep their children safe. If In Force technology can prove its product with schools, the likelihood for other institutions — colleges and municipal buildings — to adopt it will increase in tandem.

In Force Technology is providing a “mobile panic button” application for use in cutting down on police response times to mass shootings. The target market is primarily public schools, but also in private schools, universities, and government and religious buildings. Its application, IN FORCE911, can alert law enforcement officers of an incident in as little as four seconds and provide relevant data to plan a response. The space is crowded, but competitors can’t match IN FORCE911 for speed.

In Force Technology has suffered a blistering copyright lawsuit and accumulated significant debt. However, it has also established multiple partnerships to grow its customer base, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic closing schools and public spaces, revenue actually went up last year. Therefore, In Force Technology has been rated a Neutral Deal.

For questions regarding the KingsCrowd staff pick or ratings for this company, please reach out to support@kingscrowd.com.

Analysis written by Benjamin Potts.