Safely, tackles the issue of personal safety in public spaces. It is a platform underpinned by a peer to peer safety where users can send GPS location, live stream, and audio to several close friends and family members so that help can be arranged.
Talk to us about why you're shifting away from traditional security and into a tech startup.
Firstly, I am a firm believer that there will always be a need for on-premise security however as an industry I believe we have mastered the supply and installation of security in our homes and businesses. One thing I have noticed is that as a society we are becoming more transient, spending less time at one location including our homes and that means working, exercising, catching up with friends, and living life. Therefore traditional businesses like mine are finding it harder and harder to provide a significant impact to someone’s safety with traditional safety solutions. As society has evolved the security industry is still heavily focused on securing property, what that means is, we as an industry are failing to protect the most valuable assets the moment we step foot out the door, which is ourselves.
Talk to us about the issues you're trying to address at the moment?
A number of years ago I was assisting a local women’s group here in Victoria, helping them protect women from violence, domestic in particular. As a business, we could help them with all the traditional solutions like security systems, CCTV, intercom but when it came down to protecting the individual we were unable to help. To be honest, that really bothered me and ultimately lead me to realise personal safety in its entirety is a completely unresolved area. Having this sitting on my shoulders and hearing that in 2019, 74 women were murdered in Australia alone, was the catalyst for me to look into what ways I could use my extensive experience within the industry and channel it to something that can really help drive positive change within the community.
That’s our mission, to change all statistics relating to violence, particularly violence against women but all individuals for that matter.
How does it work? What you guys are doing?
It’s a peer-to-peer safety app that allows users to select their close friends, family to become their guardians. If they are ever bullied, harassed, or attacked there’s easy access to triggers that will activate an alarm on the user's phone which will sound a siren, flashlights with the hope of preventing the attack from escalating. At the same time, the app automatically sends a live stream of the user's video and audio together with the location so the guardians can initiate help and call emergency services if need be.
The good thing we do that makes us a little different from others is that the incidents are instantly saved to a secure cloud so they can easily be accessed and we can help identify and prosecute those responsible for the abuse.
That’s unbelievable, domestic violence is such a huge issue. Is this something that can be tackled?
We think so, I think there is a broader issue there that needs to be looked at but I think getting into the core of the issue and being able to provide a level of protection almost immediately is a game-changer. Once we release the app we definitely are going to be able to make a dent in those numbers.
How can we get involved?
We are very close to commencing the development of the app, which will be available to download with IOS and Android devices early next year. Just this week we have launched on KIC starter in an attempt to attract users to the platform pre-launch with the ability to get them to test it and generate some funds to help out with the development costs. So if there are any viewers out there interested in finding out ways they can get secure, easy access to the app, I would recommend following us online on Instagram and Facebook or heading directly to Kicstarter.com and searching for Safely.
Justin, we appreciate your time, Thank you so much
