WNY Impact Investment Fund announces $750K investment into 3AM Innovations

The Western New York Impact Investment Fund is proud to announce a $750,000 investment into 3AM Innovations, a Buffalo-based company developing software that promotes the safety of first responders in emergency situations.

3AM Innovations has made great strides achieving market adoption of its FLORIAN software system including signing on major clients such as the Philadelphia Fire Department in the past year along with many smaller fire departments and companies across North America.

The company's software has also been deployed at major events such as the Super Bowl and the Boston Marathon. In Western New York, the company works with The Orchard Park Fire District, the only full volunteer fire department that serves an NFL football team.

Click here for recent WKBW article on OP Fire District and 3AM Innovations

The WNY Impact Investment Fund recently wrapped up its most active year to date, with five investments into different companies totaling $2.75 million. The Fund’s place-based social impact ethos means that every deal is analyzed for commercial returns and the promise of making Western New York a better place to live, work and raise a family.

The Fund has now made 25 separate investments since it started making deals in 2017.

“Our Fund proves there are many ambitious entrepreneurs in Western New York who are leaving their mark on the world by leaving it a better place,” WNY Impact Investment Fund CEO Tom Quinn said. “3AM Innovations is taking cutting-edge engineering concepts and using them to make emergency situations a safer place for first responders. Creating software for this market is no easy feat, but this startup from Buffalo is well on its way to becoming a national standard for safer emergency practices.”

Read a recent recap on the Fund's activity in 2024

FLORIAN was cofounded by Ryan Litt and Patrick O’Connor, based on O’Connor’s experience as a volunteer firefighter in Grand Island, NY. O’Connor believed that technology could provide a better solution to the dominant system, which involves physical tags, radios and intuition.

The resulting product leverages geofencing, machine learning, mesh networking and artificial intelligence to create a precise understanding of emergency personnel’s location, conditions around them and relative safety.

Following a Series A round in 2022 led by Grand Oaks Capital, 3AM Innovations appointed Mel Passarelli as CEO. The Buffalo native has successfully grown and sold several successful companies. He agreed to the position to give back to his native city, help bring potentially life-saving tech to those who need it and capitalizing on an enticing business opportunity.

Passarelli was joined by Chief Financial Officer Katie Sullivan, along with O’Connor (president) and Litt (chief operating officer) as 3AM grew quickly throughout 2024. The company also forged meaningful partnerships with corporations such as Scott Safety, a global manufacturer and supplier of safety equipment, along with Panasonic and T-Mobile. The latter awarded 3AM its 2024 Unconventional Award in the “Innovation for Community” category.

3AM now has 23 fulltime employees, many of them working from its headquarters in downtown Buffalo. The company will use the cash to support the immediate needs of the business as it grows, including investments into its engineering, sales, marketing and customer success teams.

“Successful software companies create innovative products that improve the lives of their customers, whether that’s making them more profitable, more efficient or safer,” Passarelli said. “This is exactly what makes 3AM so special. Municipalities and companies around the U.S. are now seeing that FLORIAN is a practical system that creates safer conditions for people that are putting their lives on the line for others. It’s a very rewarding project with a major opportunity in the coming years.”