With personal safety emerging as a pressing issue worldwide, entrepreneurs are developing safety technologies to tackle the growing demand. Many women, and even some men, have embraced such technology to feel safer and seek support when they experience threat or violence. Although such tools cannot eliminate risk entirely, they offer valuable short-term protection which makes women feel safer against gendered violence. One such example is the Epowar app, which was founded by Erin-Jane (E-J) Roodt and Maks Rahman in 2020.

What does the app do? 

Epowar is an AI-based safety app, which supports victims of attack- specifically aimed as a safety solution for women who are under threat of gendered violence when travelling on the streets. It functions in the two major areas of sending SOS alerts and proof collection. 

Alerts

• When someone is under attack, the Epowar detects it and sends alerts to the person’s trusted contacts and allows them to contact the victim and track their whereabouts. The app also has a separate SOS button which a person can press when they feel unsafe but no attack is detected, or even during an attack to alert the contacts again.  
• Designed by a woman with real-life experience, the Epowar app addresses the practical challenges faced during an attack. Unlike many safety technologies that require the user to actively press a button, Epowar automatically detects an assault and sends out alerts. This removes the burden on the victim to take action at a moment when threat or freeze out of fear hinders their ability to function properly, making it impossible to respond

Evidence

• Immediately as the app detects an attack, it starts collecting data such as location, audio recordings and vital signs. The lack of admissible evidence is often a barrier to women seeking justice in cases of such violence and assaults. 
• This data is immediately sent to the cloud so that the evidence is secure even if the device is lost or damaged. Once the journey is complete, this data is also emailed to the user’s verified email address. 

Automatic Attack Detection technology

Epowar uses Automatic Attack Detection technology. The app, which can be connected to people’s smartwatches, detects vital signs like heart rate as well as movement patterns. Based on a combination of these factors, the technology is able to detect when a person is under attack while outside. 

Tested by medical professionals, the technology has been found to be highly accurate. Detection is based on the algorithm which is fed into the AI system. While ongoing improvements aim to enhance accuracy, the makers prioritise not missing any incidents over false positives. 

At present, the app experiences a 2% false positive rate, which is actively being addressed. The developers are also working with people who have different heart conditions to assess compatibility, and optimise performance for a broad range of users. 

Epowar’s journey

The initial idea for Epowar emerged from Erin-Jane (E-J) Roodt’s personal experience during her years as a student at Bath University. Like many women across the globe, she was also constantly stressed about her safety while walking alone or in the dark. Her feeling of vulnerability inspired her to develop a real-time safety tool designed for women. She envisioned an AI-powered technology which can detect when someone is under attack. When E-J noticed that Apple Watches could monitor heart rate, it sparked a eureka moment: “What if smartwatch could automatically detect an attack?”

Funding Epowar

As an early-stage startup with a meaningful and unique aim, Epowar is actively seeking funding opportunities for further development of its app. The founders are decisive on keeping the app free and do not intend to restrict access to any safety features, in line with their mission to make women’s safety accessible to all. They participate in many competitions such as TechSPARK UK’s Silicon Gorge competition, where they have been shortlisted as finalists, in pursuit to raise the necessary funds. 

In the past, the app has received several grants and awards at different stages, such as:

• As a graduate from the University of Bath, E-J has been a part of the university’s Enterprise Scheme, and received a £15,000 Alumni Innovation Award in 2022 through her involvement with Enterprise Bath. 
• Epowar later generated £90,000 by working with the incubator at SETsquared- a partnership between 6 top UK universities which has been ranked amongst the top three startup hubs in Europe. 
• They were also awarded sponsorship through Guidea’s Femovate program for 2023-24, as a part of which the digital health experts at Guidea will work with Epowar founders on the user experience design of this innovative safety solution.
• Most recently, the app received a £3000 grant from the Santander Entrepreneurship Fund. The announcement was shared by E-J via her Linkedin post.

“Text Me When You Get Back” Tax

A new research commissioned by Epowar coined the term “Text Me When You Get Back” Tax, which sums up the significant mental, social and economic toll that the global safety crisis and gendered violence takes on women. While even the founders themselves have noted that it cannot make the streets inherently safer, apps like this do offer a viable short term solution in a world where more than half of the women feel unsafe walking alone after dark, according to surveys in the UK and beyond. 

Conclusion

Epowar is an entrepreneurial venture which seeks to address this important and grave issue which affects significantly more than half of the global population. Hence, while the core focus must remain on solving the larger gendered violence crisis that looms large on us, we must appreciate startups such as Epowar- which is a valuable innovation making the world a less scary place for many.  

About E-J

E-J now leads Epowar as the co-founder and CEO. She is a graduate in Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Bath. She started the app with Maks Rahman while she was still a student, taking up her entrepreneurial work part-time. She juggled her education and the startup for two years before graduating and taking up the role of co-founder and CEO full time. E-J has spoken about how she spent her 21st birthday money on patenting this application, which is a testament to her strong entrepreneurial spirit.