Investment Banker Raises $12M for Amber

AMBER Ready, Inc., with the help of John Thomas Financial, Inc. has raised $12 million in private financing to support continued commercialization of the Company’s AMBER Ready II Child Safety Initiative. The service was created to give parents the tools to get an AMBER Alert triggered by local law enforcement as soon as possible after a child goes missing.

Raising money in today’s market isn’t easy. Thomas Belesis, Founder and CEO of John Thomas Financial, stated,

“When giving consideration to prevailing market challenges, the success of this private offering certainly attests to the fact that our investors agree that the AMBER Ready Program may materially improve the effectiveness of the current AMBER Alert System and create a powerful new and proactive standard for protecting our nation’s children.”

According to a 2005 CRS Report for Congress, most abducted children murdered by their kidnappers are killed within three hours of the abduction.  That’s why quick response is so critical.  Law enforcement is encouraged to send out an alert in the following situations:

• circumstances indicate that the child is in harm’s way
• they have sufficient descriptive information about the child and/or the abductor
• they believe that the immediate broadcast of an alert will help to locate the child

AMBER Ready, Inc. facilitates the process with the nation’s first wireless program that enables parents to securely store their child’s identity information on a cell phone. Alerts can be disseminated immediately upon a child being abducted or found to be missing.

It’s odd to think of child protection from abduction as an industry, but this kind of technology and public education takes a lot of capital. Congrats to AMBER Ready, and thanks to John Thomas!

Image Credit: AmberReady.com screenshot