In April, Biofire launched its first public product: a biometric smart gun. Billed as the first firearm with facial and fingerprint recognition, the weapon made waves for both breaking ground with its innovative technology and for wading into a political maelstrom.
But Kai Kloepfer, founder and CEO of Biofire, had been at it for years, beginning work on a smart-gun prototype more than a decade ago, at age 16. His inspiration came from tragedy: the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., where a gunman killed 12 during a midnight movie screening. Kloepfer, who lived nearby, set out to build a gun he said could help cut down on similar tragedies.
“It inspired me to seek out a technological solution that could help address preventable gun violence,” says Kloepfer.
What started as a high school science project is now a viable product in a viable startup. Here’s how it works: Biofire’s firearms look like regular handguns but have some added bells and whistles. On the grip, there’s a small sensor that reads fingerprints. On the back of the gun, there’s a 3D facial recognition sensor. The idea is that by enabling guns to “unlock” only for their rightful owners, more accidental shootings and suicides could be prevented.
After a short stint at MIT, Kloepfer dropped out and landed $100,000 in funding from investor Peter Thiel as part of the billionaire’s initiative to pay promising students to quit college and start companies. Biofire now has 40 employees and has raised $30 million in venture capital.
The company’s biggest challenge, according to Kloepfer, is to balance how to talk about the “exciting, cutting-edge technology” that’s built into the smart guns, while simultaneously showing that the customer experience is “super simple and enjoyable.”
Fun fact: Kloepfer started working on a biometric gun before he was legally old enough to actually own one.
The Fortune Founders Forum is a community of entrepreneurs chosen by Fortune’s editorial team to participate at the annual Brainstorm Tech conference, which took place in Deer Valley, Utah, in July. Our inaugural cohort was selected based on a variety of factors, including the potential impact of their companies, and reflected a diversity of geographies, sectors, and demographics.
