AI startup for public security raises $40m - Valor International

Pax has developed an AI platform that aggregates data from security cameras, arrest warrants, police reports and other public databases that are currently scattered across disconnected systems. Information that often contains few details about a crime—and typically fails to lead to the identification of suspects—gains a new dimension through artificial intelligence, thanks to its ability to rapidly connect multiple databases.

About 30 cities in the states of Paraná and Goiás—where public security has become a key political campaign issue—have been using the Pax platform for about a year. In the city of Luziânia, Goiás, crime rates fell 27% and the rate of solved cases involving robbery, theft, and homicide rose from 18% to 34% between July and December last year, according to data provided by the startup.

The platform is sold to public security departments and other government agencies, since public security is closely tied to public policy.

“The platform supports investigations; it is not a replacement,” David Peixoto, one of Pax’s founders, told Valor. The company was founded alongside Phyllipe Medeiros, a former Meta executive, and Fernando Czaspski, formerly of Nubank.

“Today, investigative work is done almost entirely manually, which requires a great deal of time and personnel. In 90% of crimes, it is impossible to identify the perpetrator because victims provide vague descriptions, but with AI this information is cross-referenced with other data and gains much greater relevance and precision,” Peixoto said.

Brazil records around 40,000 homicides per year and fewer than four in ten are solved, according to Instituto Sou da Paz. The global average clearance rate is 63%, while in Europe it reaches 92%.

The entry of two international investment firms is no coincidence. Pax plans to expand into other countries also struggling with violence.

“It makes perfect sense to start in Brazil, which is huge and has many different kinds of public security challenges,” Peixoto said.

“Ask any Brazilian what issue they most want solved, and the answer is always the same: security,” said Andrew Cohen, a partner at Greenoaks. “For decades, police forces across the region had limited access to technology to coordinate and interpret the data available to them. When we first invested in Pax, we believed the team would build the region’s first real-time public security platform,” he added.

Greenoaks manages roughly $18 billion in assets and co-led Anthropic’s $65 billion funding round alongside four other funds. Anthropic, an AI company, reached a record valuation of $965 billion. Benchmark, whose flagship fund totals $425 million, was one of Uber’s earliest investors and has also backed companies such as eBay, Twitter, and Instagram.

Founded a year and a half ago, Pax has 70 employees, about 25% of whom were living abroad or recently returned to Brazil.

“Many of them left because of violence and are now returning to help with this project. Several had higher salaries and worked at major international companies, but came back because of a sense of purpose,” said Peixoto, who began his career at Credit Suisse.

Peixoto later co-founded Isaac, an education fintech valued at around R$855 million just two years after launching and later sold to Arco Educação.

His partners at Pax are also part of a group of executives who left what he described as “stable lives” at large corporations or abroad. Phyllipe Medeiros spent a decade as an executive at Meta. He joined Facebook after being personally approached by Mark Zuckerberg while still studying computer science in João Pessoa.

“He invited me to dinner, sent me airline tickets, and asked whether I was interested in working there. I accepted immediately,” Medeiros said, adding that he rushed to graduate after receiving the invitation.

Fernando Czaspski built his career in financial markets and most recently worked at Nubank.

“When I was at Isaac, I tried to recruit Fernando, but he wasn’t interested. Now at Pax, he saw a purpose in improving public security, which affects all of society—it’s a collective problem,” Peixoto said.

Asked about investing in a sensitive area such as public security, Peixoto said Pax is consistent with his history of working on projects with social impact.