An app to help women walk home safe, whose usage soared to half a million downloads following the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, has been backed by a multimillion-pound fund set up by three Manchester-based entrepreneurs.
Fearless Adventures has led a £300,000 investment round into London-based personal safety app, WalkSafe.
The app includes regularly updated police crime data to show users where the recent hotspots are, so they can pick safe routes to walk home.
READ MORE: Fearless Adventures backs pet sector start-up
The app’s features allow users to alert contacts if they’re feeling unsafe while walking and has already surpassed 500,000 downloads.
Fearless Adventures was launched in October by David Newns, Charlie Yates and Social Chain co-founder Dominic McGregor.
Its previous investments also include an ethical swimwear brand established by Love Island star Montana Brown.
Rachel McDonald, Fearless Adventures’ managing director, said: "As a team at Fearless Adventures, we fundamentally believe in Emma’s vision for WalkSafe, that technology combined with police crime data can genuinely help save lives.
"The new tech already has national attention and we see this app becoming the leading personal safety service. Emma’s commitment and passion are infectious and made it a very easy investment decision for us.
"We’re excited to offer them access to high-quality talent and marketing expertise to really scale their business."
WalkSafe co-founder Emma Kay added: "I call WalkSafe the ‘app that shouldn’t have to exist’ as no woman should have to live in fear of violence or the threat of it when they walk from A to B. But, like countless women, I’ve experienced being groped, flashed at, and harassed with no provocation.
"Thankfully, I have been able to turn that fear and danger into something useful. So I’m proud that our technology empowers women, and has quickly become the most popular trusted safety app. To help more women live without this fear, who better to partner with than Fearless?
"With their best-in-class support, we’ll build a global safety brand that harnesses technology to help save lives. The entrepreneurial team shares our strong values, and with multiple successes under their belt, are the best partner to help us achieve our ambitious goals."
