39◼SOLUTIONS BloombergBusinessweek February 10, 2020
YoniSherizen’sstartuphasgrownfromtwoemployees
tosevenin thepastthreeyears,he’sclosetosealinghis
biggestdealtodate,andinvestorsvaluethebusiness
at$13million.Yeteverytimehesignsupa customer,he
worriesaboutthecostofsuccess.
Hiscompany,Gabriel—namedafterthehorn-blowing
archangel—helpsprotectplacessuchascommunitycen-
tersandsynagoguesfromattackers.“Unfortunately,bad
newsbringsa lotofattentiontoa productlikeours,”says
Sherizen,a 41-year-oldAmerican-bornrabbiwholiveson
a kibbutzin centralIsrael.Sofar,allofGabriel’scustomers
areJewishgroupsin Florida,Michigan,andNewJersey
concernedaboutanti-Semiticviolence,andSherizen
hatestheideaofprofitingfromshootingsandthefear
theyspawn.“I wrestlewiththatallthetime,”hesays.
Gabriel’ssoleproductisa hardwareandsoftware
packagethatincludespanicbuttonstobeplacedaround
a site,eachwitha fisheyecamerathatgivespoliceand
securitymanagersa viewofthescene.Communitymem-
berscandownloada mobileappthathasitsownalert
button,sotheycansendreal-timeupdatesonescape
routesorsafeplacestohide.Thepricestartsat$10,000
a yearfor 10 devicesandassociatedservices.
Ramapo,a townwith90,000Jewishresidents 30 miles
northofNewYork,hadbeenintalkswithSherizenfor
months.AfterthreeattacksonOrthodoxJewsin themet-
ropolitanarealastfall,“panicsetin,”saysMonaMontal,
chiefofstaffforthetown’ssupervisor.Ramapois poised
toinstallGabriel’ssystematmorethan 200 locations—
synagogues,schools,andbanquethalls—servingmore
than 50,000 people, which would represent a sevenfold
expansion of the company’s sales. “I hope we never use
it,” Montal says on her way to an event honoring the policeTHE BOTTOM LINE The business of protecting public spaces is expected
to grow 52% by 2025, to $61 billion, as dozens of companies offer everything
from bulletproof backpacks to video monitoring systems.officerswhointervenedina stabbingspreeata nearby
rabbi’shomein December.
LastyeartheU.S.saw400-plusshootingsinwhich
fourormorepeoplewereinjured.That’sboosteddemand
forimprovedsecurityin publicplaces,withrevenuein the
businessontracktogrow52%by2025,to$61billion
globally,researcherMarketsandMarketspredicts.Dozens
ofcompanieshavejumpedin,providingeverythingfrom
bulletproofbackpacksandhoodiestofull-timemonitor-
ingsystems.RaveMobileSafetyandAlertusTechnologies
offerpanic-button software similar to Gabriel’s. Avigilon,
a unit of Motorola Solutions Inc., sells video and surveil-
lance equipment. Athena Security says it can program
cameras to detect hundreds of types of guns and imme-
diately alert police if they sense a threat. “The market is
ripe for good products,” says Noel Glacer, head of a secu-
rity industry recruitment firm, whose son was a student at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.,
when a gunman killed 17 people there two years ago. “I
tell people, if you think it won’t happen to you, that’s what
I thought. And then it did.”
While testing its system at new installations, Gabriel
conducts drills to help students, teachers, and other com-
munity members understand what to do in a shooting and
to give administrators a chance to familiarize themselves
with the equipment and software. Gabriel’s network also
addresses a frustration for police: Most Orthodox Jews
avoid sites such as Twitter and Facebook for religious
reasons, but that’s where authorities typically post emer-
gency updates. Rabbis have deemed Sherizen’s app
appropriate for their followers.
Sherizen got the idea for the company in 2016 after a
pair of Palestinian gunmen attacked a Tel Aviv restaurant,
killing four people. The same year he and co-founder
Asaf Adler started Gabriel, now based in a suburb of
Tel Aviv, with backing from friends and relatives. He just
raised $3 million in funding from new investors as he
seeks to move beyond the Jewish community, pitching
his product to schools, churches, mosques, malls, night-
clubs—anywhere people gather. “We chose the name
Gabriel because it’s cross-religious,” Sherizen says.
After the October 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life syna-
gogue in Pittsburgh, which claimed 11 lives, Sherizen gave a
series of interviews in which he identified his first customer.
The leaders of that community were furious, concerned
that he’d effectively issued a challenge to anti-Semites to
beat their defenses, he says. He immediately apologized
and asked journalists to scrub mentions of the name. “I
have to safeguard my customers’ interests,” Sherizen says.
“They are a target for a lot of people.” �Yaacov BenmelehA Panic
Button for
Shootings
Israeli startup
Gabriel offers
protection from
attacks but
frets about the
reasons for its
growth