Citizen Valuation, Funding & Investors
Citizen is valued at $155M as of August 2018.
Last Citizen valuation
$155M
Series B · Aug 2018
Last Citizen funding round
$50M
Series C · Jan 2021
Cumulative funding Citizen raised
$133M
across 5 funding rounds
Key investors in Citizen
Slow Ventures
RRE Ventures
Sequoia Capital
Bossa Invest
Founders Fund
Greycroft
About Citizen
Citizen is a Los Angeles-headquartered mobile app delivering real-time safety alerts from 911 calls and police scanners in major U.S. cities including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Users receive geofenced notifications with live video, updates, and community reports, aiding evacuations and reunifications.
Founded
2015
HQ
New York City, NYWebsite
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2C
Revenue model
Advertising
Valuation
$155M (Aug 2018)
Citizen Valuation
Citizen is currently valued at $155M, based on its Series B in August 2018.
The $47M round was led by 8VC, with participation from Chetrit Ventures and Karman Ventures.
Citizen's valuation has grown 5.0x from $31M at its Series A in September 2017 to $155M in August 2018, across 2 priced rounds.
Citizen valuation by funding round
| Date | Stage | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 2018 | Series B | $155M |
| Sep 2017 | Series A | $31M |
Citizen Funding History
Citizen has raised a total of $133M across 5 funding rounds.
Citizen's first fundraising round was a $1M seed round in October 2016. The most recent completed round was a $50M Series C in January 2021.
Citizen funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Valuation | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2021 | Series C | Greycroft (lead); Breyer Capital; northstar.vc; Rachel Zoe Ventures; Bossa Invest | $50M | - | - |
| Mar 2020 | Undisclosed stage | Goodwater Capital (lead); Ethos VC | $23M | - | Citizen is a mobile safety app that provides real-time emergency alerts and crime information to users. The platform gained significant traction during 2020, reaching the top of Apple's app charts during the George Floyd protests despite operating in only 18 US cities at the time, surpassing major apps including Twitter, Nextdoor, CNN, Fox News, and The New York Times. The company also partnered with LA County for COVID-19 contact tracing in September 2020 and later acquired Harbor, a disaster and emergency preparation startup, in January 2022. However, the company faced significant challenges beginning in early 2023 when it laid off 33 employees including at least 10 engineers, and Sequoia Capital Partner Mike Vernal resigned from the board after Sequoia declined further funding participation, signaling investor concern about the company's business trajectory. |
| Aug 2018 | Series B | 8VC (lead); Chetrit Ventures; Karman Ventures | $47M | $155M | Citizen is a safety and alert app that provides real-time information on nearby incidents, crimes, and emergencies using public data sources and user reports. Founded in 2017, it gained prominence during events like the 2020 George Floyd protests, topping Apple app charts despite limited city coverage. The company has partnerships with law enforcement, such as LA County for COVID-19 contact tracing, and acquired Harbor in 2022 for disaster preparation features. Investors include 8VC, Sequoia Capital, Greycroft, Goodwater Capital, and others, with total funding reaching over $180 million across multiple rounds. The specified funding event aligns with a Series 1-B-2 round on August 1, 2018, involving 8VC and Chetrit Ventures, raising approximately $15,000 at a post-money valuation of $154.77 million. Earlier, Sequoia led a $12 million Series A in 2017. Citizen faced challenges including 33 layoffs in January 2023 and Sequoia Capital's board resignation in February 2023 after declining further funding. |
| Sep 2017 | Series A | Sequoia Capital (lead); RRE Ventures; Slow Ventures; MaC Venture Capital; Kapor Capital; Lux Capital; Haystack; Craft Ventures | $12M | $31M | Citizen, originally launched as Vigilante in 2016 and rebranded in 2017, is a safety app that provides real-time alerts on nearby incidents by monitoring police and fire calls. In September 2017, the company raised $12.2 million in a Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital with participation from RRE Ventures, Slow Ventures, and Lux Capital, achieving a post-money valuation of $31 million. At the time, Citizen employed around 20 full-time staff monitoring calls across New York City's five boroughs and had approximately 120,000 users in the city, expanding to San Francisco on September 19, 2017. The app had been downloaded 34,000 times in New York City in the months prior to the funding announcement. |
| Oct 2016 | Seed | Founders Fund (lead); RRE Ventures; Slow Ventures; Javelin Venture Partners | $1M | - | - |
Who has invested in Citizen?
20 investors have backed Citizen across its funding rounds, including Slow Ventures, RRE Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Bossa Invest, Founders Fund and Greycroft.
Lead investors include Greycroft, Goodwater Capital, 8VC, Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund.
Citizen Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City, NY | 2 | Participant | Oct 2016 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 2 | Participant | Oct 2016 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 1 | Participant | Jan 2021 | |
| New York City, NY | 1 | Participant | Aug 2018 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 1 | Lead | Aug 2018 | |
| Abilene, TX | 1 | Participant | Sep 2017 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 1 | Participant | Sep 2017 | |
| New York City, NY | 1 | Participant | Sep 2017 | |
 London | 1 | Participant | Jan 2021 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 1 | Participant | Sep 2017 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 1 | Participant | Mar 2020 | |
| New York City, NY | 1 | Lead | Jan 2021 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 1 | Lead | Mar 2020 | |
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 20 Citizen investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
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Start Free TrialAcquisitions by Citizen
Citizen has acquired 1 company to date.
Last acquisition by Citizen was on January 26th 2022. Citizen acquired harbor for undisclosed valuation.
Latest Acquisitions by Citizen
| Description | Harbor is a San Francisco-based company providing a mobile app and readiness platform that assesses home safety through personalized expert advice, gamification, and automation for emergency preparedness. |
| HQ Country | |
| HQ City | Los Angeles, CA |
| Deal Date | 26 Jan 2022 |
| Valuation | undisclosed |
| EV/Revenue | |
| EV/EBITDA | |
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Citizen acquisitions and their M&A valuation multiples. Start Free Trial | |
Citizen Competitors
Citizen competitors include listed companies like Dozn and UNITED, and private ones like CitiX, temi, Pickzon and Alto.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Almaty | Private | - | - | $99M | - | |
| New York City, NY | Private | - | - | $152M | - | |
| New York City, NY | Private | - | - | $160M | - | |
| Dallas, TX | Private | - | - | $150M | - | |
 South Korea | Publicly listed | $44M | $11M | $130M | - | |
 Japan | Publicly listed | $57M | ($7M) | $127M | 0.7x |
Citizen Public Comps
Citizen is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Weight Watchers, CyberLink, Dozn, UNITED, Be Friends Holding, Matrimony.com, Perfect Corp., Cheetah Mobile, Keep Inc. and Security First International.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $786M | ($198M) | 0.6x | 0.7x | (2.4x) | 4.0x | |||
| $77M | $11M | 0.7x | 0.7x | 5.1x | 5.6x | |||
| $44M | $11M | 0.1x | - | 0.5x | - | |||
| $57M | ($7M) | 0.7x | 0.7x | (6.2x) | - | |||
| $222M | $24M | 0.4x | - | 3.4x | - | |||
| $48M | $6M | 1.9x | 1.8x | 14.8x | 13.8x | |||
| $69M | $636K | 0.5x | 0.5x | 56.9x | 11.9x | |||
| $172M | ($16M) | - | - | - | - | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Citizen competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about Citizen
| When was Citizen founded? | Citizen was founded in 2015. |
| Where is Citizen headquartered? | Citizen is headquartered in New York City, NY, United States. |
| Is Citizen publicly listed? | No, Citizen is a private, VC-backed company. |
| What is Citizen's valuation? | Citizen was last valued at $155M in its Series B in August 2018. |
| How much funding has Citizen raised? | Citizen has raised $133M across 5 funding rounds. |
| What was Citizen's last funding round? | Citizen's last funding round was a $50M Series C in January 2021, led by Greycroft. |
| Who are Citizen's investors? | Citizen's investors include RRE Ventures, Slow Ventures, Breyer Capital, Chetrit Ventures, 8VC, MaC Venture Capital, Kapor Capital, Lux Capital, northstar.vc, Haystack and 10 others. |
| Which companies are comparable to Citizen? | Companies comparable to Citizen include CitiX, temi, Pickzon, Alto, Dozn and UNITED. |
| How many companies has Citizen acquired? | Citizen has acquired 1 company, including harbor. |
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