Carbyne (company)

Carbyne (formerly Reporty Homeland Security) is an Israeli technology company that develops advanced emergency communication solutions. Founded in 2015, Carbyne focuses on providing real-time video, location, and data transmission to enhance emergency response systems worldwide. Its platform enables public safety answering points (PSAPs) to receive critical information from callers, improving response times and situational awareness. The company, headquartered in New York with R&D operations in Tel Aviv, has attracted significant investments and partnered with global telecoms. However, Carbyne has faced scrutiny due to its connections with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Jeffrey Epstein, American tech investor Peter Thiel and concerns over its ties to Israeli intelligence.

Carbyne’s technology has been adopted by emergency services in 23 U.S. states and several other countries, including deployments in cities such as Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, New York City and by agencies in Mexico and Colombia. In Israel, its platform has been used by the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem municipalities and the volunteer emergency organization United Hatzalah.^[1][2]

Carbyne was founded in April 2015 by Amir Elichai (who serves as CEO), along with Alex Dizengoff (CTO), Yony Yatsun, and Lital Leshem under the name Reporty Homeland Security.^[1] The startup initially developed a platform for live video streaming and geolocation data to assist emergency call centers. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak invested approximately $1 million in the company in 2015 and assumed the role of chairman.^[3]

The company rebranded to Carbyne in early 2018 – a name referencing an extremely strong allotrope of carbon.^[4][5] By 2018 Carbyne had raised about $24 million in venture funding (including backing from Founders Fund, the first Israeli startup in that fund’s portfolio) and was valued near $100 million.^[4]

In April 2019, the company began collaborating with Cisco, the network equipment giant, to incorporate their hardware into its systems. Two months later, Carbyne announced a partnership with Google to integrate Android phone location services into emergency command centers across Mexico.^[2]

Carbyne established its headquarters in New York City in October 2019 while maintaining R&D operations in Tel Aviv, and it expanded with offices in the United States, Mexico, Europe, India, and Ukraine.^[6][1][2]

In 2025, it secured a $100 million funding round led by strategic partners like AT&T, and reported deployments in roughly 300 emergency response centers worldwide.^[1]

Carbyne develops cloud-based “Next Generation 911” (NG911) solutions aimed at modernizing emergency communication. Its platform enables real-time transmission of rich data from callers to public safety answering points (PSAPs). For example, when a distress call is made, Carbyne’s system can provide the 911 dispatcher with the caller’s precise GPS location, live video feed from the caller’s smartphone camera, audio streaming, text messaging, and other telemetry in parallel with the voice call. The company offers both an app-based service and an app-free option. With the Carbyne mobile app (previously called “C-Now”), users can pre-install it on iOS or Android to automatically send video and location data during an emergency call.^[4]

Alternatively, Carbyne’s web-based feature (known as “C-Lite”) allows a 911 center to text an auto-generated URL link to a caller, which when tapped activates the phone’s camera and streams video and location to the dispatcher – all without requiring the caller to have any app installed.^[4] Both methods are cloud-native and work with legacy 911 infrastructure by creating an over-the-top data channel, enabling quick deployment with minimal changes to existing call centers.^[6] Carbyne claims its technology can significantly improve response efficiency (reducing emergency response times by up to 65% on average) by providing first responders with critical situational information before they arrive on scene. The platform also includes capabilities for indoor positioning (to locate callers inside buildings) and integration of additional data sources such as IoT sensors or surveillance feeds to give a comprehensive picture of an incident in real time.^[6][4]

Carbyne’s services are built on a secure cloud (using Amazon Web Services) and are compliant with data protection regulations like GDPR, with all data transmitted over encrypted channel. The company emphasizes that 911 centers using Carbyne cannot access a caller’s camera or microphone without the user’s explicit consent (the caller must accept the video link or app permissions).^[6][4] Major telecom and public safety partners, such as AT&T, have integrated Carbyne’s solutions as part of their NextGen 911 offerings.^[1]

Carbyne’s leadership and board include several notable figures from both the tech sector and government. The company’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman is Amir Elichai^[7], an Israeli entrepreneur who conceived the idea after experiencing a slow emergency response when he was mugged^[2], and who previously served as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces special forces. The former Chairman of Carbyne was Ehud Barak, a former Prime Minister of Israel who also served as the country’s Defense Minister and was a decorated IDF Chief of Staff. Another co-founder, Alex Dizengoff, acts as Chief Technology Officer, overseeing development of the platform. Two additional founding team members were Yony Yatsun and Lital Leshem, the latter of whom had a background in Israeli intelligence and private security ventures; however, Leshem has not been active in the company’s management since 2017.^[1][8]

Carbyne’s board of directors has included high-profile individuals such as Pinchas (Pinhas) Buchris, the former commander of Unit 8200 (the elite intelligence unit of the IDF) and a former Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense.^[8] International tech investor Nicole Junkermann joined the board in 2017 after her venture capital fund invested in Carbyne, serving alongside Barak and Elichai. The company’s growth has also attracted prominent investors and advisors; for example, Peter Thiel’s venture firm Founders Fund became an early backer in 2018, and U.S. businessman Andrew Intrater (CEO of Columbus Nova) acquired a stake in the company in 2017.^[5]

Carbyne has been the subject of controversy due to the backgrounds of its investors and the sensitive nature of its technology. In July 2019, Israeli media revealed that Jeffrey Epstein – the American financier and convicted sex offender – had secretly bankrolled a substantial portion of Ehud Barak’s investment in Carbyne (then called Reporty) back in 2015. According to reports in Haaretz and other outlets, Epstein provided millions of dollars to Barak’s limited partnership (named “Sum (E.B.) 2015”) which Barak used to buy shares of Report. At the time, Barak was a private citizen investing in tech ventures; he has stated that he accepted Epstein’s capital as a passive investor, asserting that all activities were legal and reported to the authorities. Nevertheless, once Epstein’s criminal history and 2019 sex-trafficking charges became widely known, Barak said he instructed lawyers to explore removing Epstein’s holding from the partnership. The Epstein connection became a heated issue in Israeli politics because Barak re-entered politics in 2019 – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly seized on the ties between Barak and the disgraced financier, even calling for an investigation.^[9][3] The scandal drew attention to Carbyne, as observers questioned why Epstein, known to cultivate connections with technology and defense circles, was funding a 911 tech startup. Barak defended Carbyne’s integrity, emphasizing that neither Epstein nor other outside partners had any operational role in the company.^[9]

Another area of controversy surrounds Carbyne’s ties to the Israeli security establishment and potential espionage concerns. The company’s leadership includes former high-ranking defense officials (such as Barak and Pinchas Buchris of Unit 8200), and its core technology – which could provide real-time access to personal devices’ cameras, microphones, and location – has raised alarms among privacy advocates. Carbyne’s technology originated in part from Israel’s defense industry, and the firm actively markets its platform to governments worldwide. In an investigative report, TRT World noted that Carbyne exists in a “gray area,” having “unprecedented access to private information” via users’ smartphones and the potential to transfer such surveillance technology across borders without strict oversight. The report also pointed out that one Carbyne co-founder, Lital Leshem, had worked with American mercenary entrepreneur Erik Prince (founder of Blackwater) at a firm backed by Chinese investors, suggesting possible avenues for Carbyne’s sensitive capabilities to spread to China. These links, combined with Epstein’s involvement, fueled speculation in some media that Carbyne might have been part of a larger intelligence-gathering operation, with theories positing connections to Israeli intelligence.^[10]

Civil liberties organizations have cautioned that emergency services platforms like Carbyne’s must implement strong privacy safeguards to prevent misuse of sensitive data. For instance, the ability to live-stream 911 callers’ cameras, while potentially life-saving, also raises privacy concerns if abused. Carbyne has responded by highlighting its consent-based activation and security measures, and by emphasizing the public safety benefits of its system.^[11][6]

• Official website