Company: Evolv Technology
Product: Evolv Express weapons detection system
What it looks like: A two-lane system with one big panel gate in the middle and two smaller pole-type gates, one on each side. According to Evolv, its scanners use magnetic field scanning to identify not just objects but also the composition of objects, like different types of metals.
How it works: For the Express system, people can walk by in groups on either side of the main panel, with no need to have single-file flow. Objects can be kept in pockets or bags. Alerts cause a sound and light change on the panel; staffers also watch a tablet that shows video of where the alert object is on the person’s body. Cameras on the system take photos of any subject causing a positive test, allowing staff to identify the person for additional screening.
Expertise: Evolv has several executives with decades of experience in the security technology fields. Founder Mike Ellenbogen was previously the founder of Reveal Imaging Technologies and been issued sixteen patents in the field of X-ray inspection and automated detection technology.
Profile: Founded in 2013, in the past few years Evolv has rapidly climbed to the top of the stadium security scanning market with numerous deployments, especially in larger, NFL-size venues. On top of its recent revenues, Evolv has had an advantage over other startups in the field because of its finances, starting with when it went public in 2021 via a SPAC (special-purpose acquisiton company) deal that netted the company approximately $385 million.
Being the most expensive option (several sources put the costs of an Evolv Express system at around $2,500 to $3,000 per month per gate, under a 4-year lease) apparently hasn’t slowed Evolv down, perhaps in part because its systems also eliminate lines rapidly, and allow venues to reduce staff and equipment footprint, which may offset the upfront costs. According to Evolv, one Express system can replace 10 traditional metal detectors. Our live reporting has found that Evolv Express gates can quickly scan large crowds, thanks in part to the fact that multiple people can walk by each gate at the same time.
The company’s biggest wins so far, from a perspective standpoint, are Evolv’s NFL customers — Evolv now has 12 NFL teams in 11 venues using its equipment, with two of those teams being the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers, who share the high-profile SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. Evolv systems are also being used by the Atlanta Falcons at Merecedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, where at some gates they are paired with facial-authentication ticketing technology from a startup called Wicket that lets fans enter much more quickly than with traditional metal detectors and ticket scanners. Evolv also has professional-team customers in Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the NHL and most recently, in the NBA.
As in any marketplace, with more success comes more scrutiny, and over the past year Evolv has had to answer to some very public criticisms of its equipment for failure to detect certain weapons. A well-publicized incident involving a knife that went undetected by Evolv systems at a high school in Utica, New York, was followed by some lesser-known public criticism of Evolv from NBA team security professionals at a summer stadium technology conference.
But to Evolv’s credit the company has responded to such incidents, adding another level of granularity to its scanning capabilities to finally win approval from the NBA for its use in league stadiums. Since adding that capability this past fall, Evolv has already added several NBA teams to its customer list, including the Denver Nuggets, the Boston Celtics and the Houston Rockets.
Mike Ellenbogen, founder and chief innovation officer at Evolv, said in an interview that “part of our commitment to customers is that we will improve over time.” Evolv is also starting to offer systems beyond its Express product, including one called “Evolv Extend” which incorporates security cameras to try to detect weapons at a distance, such as in parking lots.
According to Ellenbogen, Evolv’s Express systems are now on their seventh major software revision since release. He also said that as the systems installed everywhere scan more people, they add more intelligence to the Evolv platform.
“As we collect more data, we get better,” said Ellenbogen. Evolv has claimed that on some NFL regular-season Sundays its systems have scanned more than 1 million fans.
Ellenbogen also said that the company’s main product, which was launched in 2019, has also improved in other ways based on in-the-field learnings. The Evolv Express units, he said, now feature a hardened, tough base that is designed “to be moved daily, over unforgiving surfaces.
“It’s really optimized for being outdoors, and to get beat up a bit,” he said.
Ellenbogen also addressed the cost of Evolv systems by noting that by using Evolv, customers have said they see significant labor savings, and huge reduction of staffing numbers for security deployments. “What you end up with is a better security posture that costs less,” Ellenbogen said. “This is not a bleeding-edge thing that takes a big risk to deploy. It is a proven approach.”
This post is part of our Market Report on Security Scanners. Click here to return to the start of the report.
