Fusar, a leading innovator of smart motorcycle helmets, has raised a $1.1 million seed financing round with the help of SeedInvest.

Fusar was founded following CEO Ryan Shearman’s near-fatal accident when his motorcycle was rear-ended by another vehicle.  This incident inspired him to utilize the power of mobile technology to provide advanced collision avoidance and other safety features to his fellow motorcycle riders, and the vision for a new type of smart helmet was born. In March of 2014, the company was accepted into the 2014 Techlaunch accelerator program, where Fusar’s executive team fine-tuned their product and business model and attracted investors.

Fusar’s helmet has subsequently evolved to include additional navigation and communication features that, when paired with the company’s mobile companion app, help riders better navigate the road, avoid collisions, and receive more immediate help when accidents do occur. The patent-pending system also features integrated front and rear video cameras and a range of sensors that eliminate the need for bulky, external devices like action cameras and communication devices that are often dangerously mounted to the outside of traditional motorcycle helmets.

SeedInvest investors invested alongside the Jumpstart NJ Angel Network, Socialatom Ventures, the Chi Fan Group, and Casabona Ventures.

“These funds will help us complete our product engineering and get ready to go into production,” says Shearman. “The Jumpstart Angels led our $200k angel round last year and we’re excited to have them lead this round. We’ve also brought in a great group of new investors, many of whom we met through SeedInvest. We had to go through a pretty intensive due diligence process before we could go live, but it opened the door to a vast network of high quality angels and seed funds. We raised almost 40% of our round on the SeedInvest platform.”

“At SeedInvest, we are committed to providing our investors with highly-vetted startup investment opportunities,” says SeedInvest Investment Director Aaron Kellner. “At the end of the day, it was Fusar’s compelling technology and passionate team which resonated with the SeedInvest investors and drove Fusar to have a successful raise.”