Airwave

Smart safety glasses and push-to-talk software for frontline workers to reduce downtime and improve efficiency.

Website: https://www.airwave.us/

Cover Block

Metric Value
Name Airwave
Tagline Smart safety glasses and push-to-talk software for frontline workers to reduce downtime and improve efficiency.
Headquarters Indianapolis, United States
Founded 2022
Stage Seed
Business Model SaaS
Industry Logistics / Supply Chain
Geography North America
Growth Profile Venture Scale
Founding Team Solo Founder
Funding Label Seed (total disclosed ~$4,000,000)

Links

Summary and Signal

Airwave is a seed-stage startup building a push-to-talk communication platform and AI-powered smart safety glasses for frontline industrial workers. The company's thesis is that reducing machine downtime and improving technician efficiency requires a voice-first, hands-free interface that integrates directly with operational knowledge bases [airwave.us]. Founded in 2022 by Pankaj Prasad, Airwave has raised approximately $4 million in total funding from a group of early-stage investors including Cortical Ventures and High Alpha [PitchBook]. The product differentiates by layering AI-driven access to service manuals and part lists onto a push-to-talk app, with the hardware component aiming to automate inspection reports and enable remote video guidance [airwave.us].

Prasad's background includes co-founding DoubleDutch, where he served as Global Head of Sales, and a subsequent product management role at Salesforce [TechCrunch, 2016] [Crunchbase, 2026]. The business model is SaaS, targeting enterprise buyers in logistics, manufacturing, and field service.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core product and founder details are confirmed via company site and business databases, but funding round specifics and customer traction are not publicly detailed.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis Classification
Stage Seed
Business Model SaaS
Industry / Vertical Logistics / Supply Chain
Geography North America
Growth Profile Venture Scale
Founding Team Solo Founder
Funding Seed (total disclosed ~$4,000,000)

Company Overview

Airwave was founded in 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana [PitchBook]. The company's premise is to replace typed communication and fragmented manuals with a voice-driven push-to-talk application and AI-powered smart safety glasses [airwave.us]. Founder and CEO Pankaj Prasad, a former co-founder and Global Head of Sales at DoubleDutch, leads the company [Startup-Seeker] [TechCrunch, 2016].

In April 2025, Airwave raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round, bringing its total disclosed funding to approximately $4 million [PitchBook] [climateinsiders.substack.com, 2025]. Investors include Cortical Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, High Alpha, Operator Stack, and Page One Ventures [PitchBook].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Company founding and funding total corroborated by PitchBook; seed round details from a single trade publication.

The Product and the Stack

Airwave's product suite is a dual-pronged approach to frontline communication and task execution. The core offering is a push-to-talk mobile application providing single-touch access to voice and video calls, messaging, and file sharing, integrated with service manuals and part lists via an AI layer [airwave.us].

The hardware component consists of smart safety glasses designed to record job activities and automatically generate reports, recaps, and AI-generated answers [airwave.us]. The company also claims to offer custom vision models tailored to specific equipment, workflows, and standards [airwave.us]. The platform is accessible without requiring the hardware, suggesting a SaaS model where the glasses are an optional peripheral [airwave.us].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Product claims are sourced from the company's own website and a partner blog; independent technical reviews or customer validations of the hardware and AI features are not yet available.

The Market They Are Entering

Metric Value
Industrial Smart Glasses (2023) $2.1B
Push-to-Talk over Cellular (2028) $5.5B

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing is drawn from analogous, third-party industry reports; specific TAM/SAM/SOM for Airwave's exact product category is not publicly quantified.

The Competitive Field

Company Positioning Stage / Funding Notable Differentiator
Airwave AI-powered push-to-talk app & smart safety glasses. Seed, ~$4M raised Combines hands-free communication with automated report generation.
Weavix Voice-first communication platform with smart badges. Venture-backed, $20M+ raised Focus on ruggedized, intrinsically safe wearable hardware.
Relay Push-to-talk cellular network and devices. Growth stage, $50M+ raised Nationwide cellular network with simple, dedicated devices.
Theatro Wearable, voice-controlled communications computer. Venture-backed, acquired by Zebra Deep integration with warehouse management systems.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor profiles and funding stages are drawn from public company sources and Crunchbase; Airwave's differentiation is based on its own marketing claims.

Opportunity

If Airwave can become the standard communication layer for the industrial frontline, it stands to capture a significant share of the operational technology budget. The company's bet is that the combination of hands-free hardware and AI-integrated software creates a defensible wedge [airwave.us].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- The opportunity analysis is based on the company's stated product capabilities and founder background.

Articles about Airwave

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