Citizen
12 known investors
Citizen operates a platform that aggregates real-time public safety information and alerts to help communities stay informed and respond to emergencies. The service connects residents, local officials, and emergency responders across 60+ cities to create safer neighborhoods.
Also known as Citizen app · Vigilante
Founders & leadership
Investors · 12
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Citizen operates a free consumer mobile application, available on iOS and Android, that sends users real-time alerts about nearby incidents such as fires, robberies, traffic collisions, hazardous material spills, police activity, road closures and missing-person cases. Each alert is tied to a specific neighborhood and city, and users can search the app to find out the cause of visible commotion such as police activity, helicopters or closed roads.
Beyond notifications, the app incorporates a user-generated live video layer: people near an unfolding incident can broadcast video from the scene, add comments and post updates, allowing others to view an event from multiple angles. The company frames this as a replacement for calling a police tip line, and positions its alerting speed as a differentiator, stating that Citizen notifications can be issued hours before official Amber Alerts.
The company describes secondary use by emergency services: fire departments reviewing live video to gauge fire intensity and allocate resources, and hospital emergency staff preparing for incoming patients ahead of EMS notification. Citizen states that it is independent and that all users, whether residents or members of law enforcement, receive the same access to the app and the same information.
Business model
Citizen distributes a free consumer mobile app for iOS and Android that aggregates incident alerts and community-contributed live video; the sources do not describe how the app is monetized.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography
Market position
Positions itself as an independent, community-driven real-time public safety information network for residents and emergency responders.
Citizen emphasizes alert speed — claiming notifications can precede official Amber Alerts by hours — combined with community-recorded live video that shows incidents from multiple angles, and an explicitly independent, equal-access model in which residents and law enforcement see the same unfiltered information.
Technology
A mobile application that delivers geotargeted push notifications for nearby incidents, supports in-app search of active and recent incidents by location, and enables users to stream live video from an incident scene with comments and text updates that other users can follow.
Go-to-market
Urban and neighborhood residents seeking real-time safety information, with additional described usage by fire departments, emergency responders, hospital and emergency-room staff, law enforcement personnel and city agencies.", "go_to_market">
Geography
The website cites incidents across multiple U.S. metropolitan areas, including New York (Queens, Brooklyn), Los Angeles (Boyle Heights, West Hollywood), Baltimore, San Francisco, Austin, Phoenix and Detroit.
Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Competitors · 4
by search overlapCompanies competing with Citizen for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
In the news
▸Research sources · 1
primary sources listed
- Citizencitizen.com · web
1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Citizen do?
- Citizen is a free mobile app delivering real-time public safety alerts and user-broadcast live video from nearby incidents.
- Who founded Citizen?
- Citizen was founded by Andrew Frame.
- Who are Citizen's investors?
- Citizen's investors include 8VC, Breyer Capital, City Light, Ethos VC, Greycroft, Haystack, Lux Capital, MaC Venture Capital and 4 more.