Obvio Secures $22 Million to Advance AI-Driven Traffic Safety and Eliminate Road Fatalities
Obvio, a rising startup transforming roadway safety with artificial intelligence, has secured $22 million in Series A funding to scale its groundbreaking traffic camera platform. The funding round was led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Khosla Ventures and Pathlight Ventures. The new capital will enable Obvio to expand its operations nationally, accelerate product development, and build out its growing team.
The timing of this announcement comes amid a national crisis on American roadways. Every day, more than 100 people in the United States lose their lives in traffic-related incidents—an alarming figure that surpasses the fatality rate per mile driven in most other high-income countries. Despite over $35 billion in public funding allocated toward road safety in recent years, fatality rates remain stubbornly above pre-pandemic levels.
Obvio’s founders argue that traditional traffic safety strategies—education, engineering, and enforcement—are outdated and insufficient to meet the moment. Education campaigns, while well-meaning, often fail to produce lasting behavior change. Large-scale engineering projects such as road diets or roundabouts can take years and cost millions. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies are experiencing chronic staffing shortages, making it nearly impossible to consistently enforce safe driving practices.
Obvio introduces a radically different, technology-first approach to traffic safety. The company has developed an AI-powered camera system designed to detect a wide array of dangerous driving behaviors in real time. Mounted on solar-powered units, these intelligent cameras can identify behaviors such as failing to stop at stop signs, distracted driving (e.g., texting), and failing to yield to pedestrians. The goal is not simply to issue citations, but to create a system that promotes awareness, accountability, and a new culture of safety on public roads.
The solution operates on three core principles:
- Detection of Dangerous Driving: The AI cameras continuously monitor intersections, school zones, and high-risk areas for violations.
- Public Transparency: Communities are given access to local data and safety insights via online portals like letsdrivesafer.com.
- Automated Enforcement: Obvio’s system enables municipalities to automatically issue citations for egregious violations, freeing up limited police resources for other duties.
“Obvio was built to provide real accountability to drivers and avoid so many preventable injuries and fatalities,” said Ali Rehan, co-founder and CEO of Obvio. “As a parent, I see the urgency firsthand—every morning when I walk my daughter to school, I witness drivers speeding through stop signs, ignoring the safety of children and crossing guards alike. It’s unacceptable, and we’re here to change that.”
A striking example of Obvio’s impact can be found in Prince George’s County, Maryland. After a tragic incident in which two children were killed near a school, Obvio partnered with local officials to launch a stop sign enforcement program using its AI camera technology. The results were immediate and dramatic. Within just eight weeks, the county saw a 50% reduction in stop sign violations during school pickup and drop-off hours.
“Even if I had 30 more officers, I wouldn’t be able to accomplish what we did with Obvio,” said Dan Franklin, police chief of Morningside, a municipality in Prince George’s County. “We are moving closer to our 100% stop sign compliance goal—this has made both my residents and elected officials very happy.”
What sets Obvio apart from legacy traffic enforcement technologies is its intelligent and ethical approach to privacy. Unlike traditional systems that record and store vast amounts of footage indiscriminately, Obvio’s cameras are programmed to automatically blur or delete footage that does not involve a traffic violation. Only essential, anonymized information is shared with law enforcement and city authorities. Privacy intelligence is embedded at the device level, ensuring data is managed responsibly from the point of capture.
This blend of technical sophistication and ethical foresight stems from the founders’ experience in the commercial transportation sector. Rehan and co-founder Dhruv Maheshwari previously worked at Motive, where they led the development of AI dashcams that helped more than 200,000 commercial drivers improve safety on the road. Dhruv brought expertise from Google’s Augmented Reality division, while Ali had already proven himself as a second-time founder.
Recognizing that Motive’s technology significantly reduced crashes in the trucking industry, the duo set out to adapt and apply similar innovations to public roadways—bringing cutting-edge AI and real-time analytics to everyday traffic scenarios. They believe this transition marks a pivotal moment in how society thinks about roadway monitoring, compliance, and accountability.
“We’re not just building traffic cameras—we’re building a system of trust, transparency, and transformation for cities,” said Maheshwari. “Obvio is about giving communities the tools to understand and improve their own roadways, using technology that’s accurate, scalable, and respectful of civil liberties.”
From a technological standpoint, Obvio’s platform represents a convergence of breakthroughs in computer vision, hardware design, and cloud-based analytics. The cameras are built to withstand harsh outdoor environments and function independently with solar power, making them cost-effective to deploy at scale. The AI models are trained to distinguish between nuanced driver behaviors, allowing the system to prioritize the most dangerous infractions.
Investors are bullish on Obvio’s potential to redefine the landscape of traffic safety. “We were impressed to see the thoughtfulness by which the founders, Ali and Dhruv, were approaching communities: focusing on both safety and privacy,” said Ajay Agarwal, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures. “It was this, combined with their product velocity and customer obsession, which has led to steep growth and high levels of demand from municipalities.”
The funding will support Obvio’s rapid expansion across the United States, especially in communities seeking immediate and scalable solutions to their traffic safety challenges. Hiring will also accelerate across engineering, operations, and customer support as the company builds the infrastructure to meet growing demand.
Obvio’s longer-term vision is to catalyze a cultural shift in how cities and citizens engage with road safety. By creating transparency and accountability through technology, Obvio aims to make reckless driving socially unacceptable and to elevate public expectations for safe road behavior.
“We believe that a safer future is possible,” said Rehan. “It starts by acknowledging that traffic deaths are preventable and that smarter tools—deployed thoughtfully—can make a meaningful difference. Every life saved is proof that change is not only necessary but achievable.”
With momentum on its side, Obvio is positioning itself at the forefront of a nationwide movement to bring safety, efficiency, and humanity back to the roads. As cities seek to modernize their infrastructure and reduce harm, Obvio’s intelligent, privacy-conscious AI platform could well become an essential tool in reshaping America’s transportation landscape.