3AM Innovation's Patrick O'Connor and his wife Lisa at the Fire Department Instructors Conference. Courtesy Patrick O'Connor
The goal of former Grand Island volunteer firefighter and founder of 3AM Innovations Patrick O’Connor is to ensure first responders get home safely at the end of the day.
“I noticed that the tracking technology for firefighters is extremely dated," says O'Connor. "It is the same concept they used back in the 1900's, and that has not changed. And so I knew that technology could improve the lives and the safety of the firefighters, so that is what I set out to do.”
O'Connor and his team created a wearable system that allows first responders to track and locate members inside a building moment-to-moment in real time. Their technology is patent pending.
Since January, 3AM Innovations has raised $300,000, has already started development of a new system. "We are 45 days in advance of our milestones in software and hardware; right on pace with where we want it to be," he adds.
It wasn’t until early 2016 that 3AM Innovations was inducted into Z80 Labs incubator space. That's where O’Connor met his chief technology officer, Robert Samuels. O’Connor said since then they have been moving a rocket speed.
With four letters of intent already signed from fire departments in both Western New York and Virginia, 3AM Innovations expects to have a beta product launched in October 2017. Additionally, the company has been invited to test their system with FDNY, the New York City Fire Department which also is the world’s largest fire department.
Through Launch NY, O'Connor began working with Entrepreneur in Residence Steve Nicosia. Nicosia helped the team focus their business model and get ready for investment.
"O'Connor is your ideal entrepreneur; he really put it all on the line," says Nicosia. "He is solving the right problem and saving lives. He doesn't give up."
Looking back on his journey, O’Connor has some advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.
“Never be afraid to talk about your company, your idea, whatever it is," he says." If you keep it to yourself and you never share it with anybody, you are never going to find anybody that could help you get it done."
This content was sponsored by UpstartNY partner LaunchNY.
Celine is a native Buffalonian graduating with her MBA from the University at Buffalo this May. After returning to the Queen City from Charleston, SC, Celine fell in love with the entrepreneurial scene and found her passion for writing and sharing stories. Her interests include finding the best brunch in Buffalo, black coffee, and the Buffalo Bills.