Biofire

Biofire Technologies, a Broomfield, Colorado-based startup, is positioned to address firearm safety through its biometric handgun. Founded in 2016 by CEO Kai Kloepfer, the company’s mission is to give gun owners tools to reduce preventable firearm injuries and deaths, particularly among children. Kloepfer's journey began as a high school science fair project following the 2012 Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting. This personal connection to gun violence fueled his engineering-focused approach to a societal problem, leading to the development of a firearm that could only be operated by its owner.

The company's core product is the Biofire Smart Gun®, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol designed primarily for home defense. Its main selling point is the proprietary Guardian Biometric Engine, which integrates both 3D infrared facial recognition and a capacitive fingerprint sensor to authorize a user. The firearm unlocks for an authorized person upon being picked up and immediately locks once it leaves their hand, preventing misuse by a child or unauthorized individual. The system is designed to function even if the user is wearing gloves or a face covering, as it requires only one of the two biometric authentications to unlock. It features an electronic, 'fire-by-wire' trigger system and houses all biometric data on the firearm itself, with no cloud connectivity, to ensure privacy and security.

Biofire operates on a direct-to-consumer business model, selling its Smart Gun via pre-orders on its website. The standard model is priced at $1,499, requiring a refundable deposit to reserve a place in the production queue. The firearm is sold as a closed system with a portable Smart Dock, which serves as the interface for charging and managing user profiles. The company has successfully raised $31 million across two funding rounds, including a $17 million seed round in May 2022 and a $14 million Series A led by Founders Fund in November 2022. These funds are intended to finalize commercialization and scale operations. The company began shipping its first production units to customers in August 2024, marking a significant milestone for the firm and the smart gun sector.

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