Carbyne
Israeli-founded emergency-call technology company, formerly Reporty Homeland Security, chaired by Ehud Barak until 2020 and backed by former Unit 8200 commander Pinhas Buchris; acquired by Axon in 2026
| Carbyne
| |
|---|---|
| Trade name | Carbyne Ltd (formerly Reporty Homeland Security Ltd) |
| Logo |  Carbyne logo (Axon 911 Core, by Carbyne) |
| Type | Subsidiary of Axon (from 18 February 2026); previously private |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder(s) | Amir Elichai, Alex Dizengoff, Yony Yatsun |
| Headquarters | Tel Aviv, Israel (described as "Tel Aviv-based" by Ctech in 2019); now part of Axon, Scottsdale, Arizona |
| Industry | Emergency communications; public-safety technology |
| Services | Cloud-based 911 call handling with caller location, live video, audio and text |
| Parent | Axon |
| Homepage | carbyne.com |
Carbyne (Carbyne Ltd, incorporated in 2014 as Reporty Homeland Security Ltd) is an emergency-communications technology company founded in Israel. It develops a cloud-based platform that lets emergency dispatchers receive GPS data, video and audio from callers.[1] The former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak was its chairman until May 2020, and Pinhas Buchris, a former commander of Unit 8200 and director-general of the Ministry of Defense, was a seed investor and board member.[2][1] In 2019 it emerged that Barak had invested in the company through a partnership that included Jeffrey Epstein.[2] The US police-technology company Axon bought it in February 2026 at a valuation of $625 million.[3][4]
History
According to Ctech, the company was incorporated in 2014 as Reporty Homeland Security Ltd and rebranded as Carbyne in early 2018. In July 2019 it was described as "Tel Aviv-based" and had raised nearly $22 million, according to Pitchbook data, from backers including Peter Thiel's venture-capital firm Founders Fund.[1] A Globes photograph caption names Alex Dizengoff, Yony Yatsun and Amir Elichai as its founders.[2]
In January 2021 Carbyne raised $25 million in an extension of its B round, led by Hanaco Ventures and ELSTED Capital Partners. Globes reported that the former CIA director David Petraeus was a new private investor, and that the existing investors, including Founders Fund and FinTLV, took part. Barak and Buchris did not.[2]
Acquisition by Axon
On 4 November 2025 Axon, the maker of TASER weapons and police body cameras, announced an agreement to buy Carbyne in a deal that valued it at $625 million. Axon said that Carbyne served "hundreds of agencies protecting more than 250 million people worldwide", and that it would combine Carbyne's call handling with its own AI tools to form "Axon 911", connecting the moment a call begins with "field response, investigation in Axon Evidence, and ultimately resolution within the justice system".[3] In a quarterly filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Axon said that on 18 February 2026 it had acquired the remaining 89.3% of Carbyne Ltd; it already held about 10.7%.[4] The company's website now markets its core product as "Axon 911 Core, by Carbyne".[5]
Military and intelligence links
- Pinhas Buchris: Globes described him as "formerly commander of IDF intelligence unit 8200 and director-general of the Ministry of Defense, who was another investor in Carbyne's seed round and who remains a shareholder in the company" (Unit 8200; Intelligence Corps).[2] Ctech listed him in 2019 as a board member, "the former director of Israel's Unit 8200".[1]
- Ehud Barak: the former prime minister, whom Globes called "the public face of the startup in its first years", invested $1 million in 2015 and was chairman until May 2020, when he resigned and his stake was sold to new investors. Amir Elichai, the co-founder and chief executive, then also became chairman.[2][1]
- David Petraeus: the former commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency became an investor in 2021.[2]
Barak, Epstein and Intrater
In July 2019 Haaretz reporter Gidi Weitz revealed that Barak had invested in Carbyne through a partnership in which Jeffrey Epstein was a partner. Globes summarised his claim as being "that Epstein financed a large proportion of the investment, and had in effect become a partner in the venture fronted by Barak". Carbyne's management said that they knew nothing of the partnership and had never met Epstein, and Buchris said he had been unaware of Epstein's involvement.[2]
Ctech reported that Barak made his investment through a limited partnership, Sum (E.B.) 2015, which owned all of Carbyne's series A preferred stock, and that Epstein was a partner in it. It cited the Israeli broadcaster Kan as reporting that Epstein put $1 million into Sum in 2016 through a British Virgin Islands company, Southern Trust, and that another $500,000 came from a second BVI company, Montilla International, whose stakeholders included the London-based investor Nicole Junkermann, who joined Carbyne's board in 2017. Ctech also reported that the US businessman Andrew Intrater, who had been questioned by the Mueller investigation, bought 24% of Carbyne's series A-1 preferred stock in September 2017.[1]
People
| Name | Role | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Amir Elichai | Co-founder, chief executive; chairman from May 2020 | [2][3] |
| Alex Dizengoff | Co-founder | [2] |
| Yony Yatsun | Co-founder | [2] |
| Ehud Barak | Chairman and investor until May 2020 | [2][1] |
| Pinhas Buchris | Seed investor and shareholder; board member (2019) | [2][1] |
| Nicole Junkermann | Board member from 2017 | [1] |
| Andrew Intrater | Investor from September 2017 | [1] |
| David Petraeus | Investor from 2021 | [2] |
See also
- Unit 8200
- Ehud Barak
- Pinhas Buchris
- Jeffrey Epstein
- Axon Enterprise
- Cyber and tech firms founded by ex Unit 8200 or occupation forces veterans
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Tomer Ganon, Amir Kurz and Ran Abramson, The Ties That Bind: Ehud Barak's Business Network Ctech, 18 July 2019 (updated 30 August 2019), accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 Ofir Dor, Emergency calls tech co Carbyne raises $25m Globes, 17 January 2021, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Axon, Axon to acquire Carbyne, uniting cloud infrastructure and AI to redefine the 911 experience Axon, 4 November 2025, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Axon Enterprise, Inc., Business Combinations (Form 10-Q note) US Securities and Exchange Commission, 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Carbyne, Carbyne: Cloud-Native Emergency Communication Response Platform Carbyne, accessed 10 November 2026.