How this restauranteur partnered with ISRO and IIT engineers to build a wearable safety device

Women’s safety is a global problem. Despite technological advancements and innovation, we have still not been able to solve this problem.  

Restauranteur-turned entrepreneur Dhananjay Gupta felt there needed a significant shift in the way we look at women’s safety. Reading and researching about such cases, Dhananjay felt women were at their most vulnerable when they had no access to their phones and were in a completely unfamiliar location. 

“We realised there needs to be a wearable device that assures women that there is someone who can come to their aid and people know their whereabouts,” says Dhananjay. 

This led him to team up with scientists and engineers at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to develop Safelocket. It is a high-tech and powerful device that people can rely on for their safety. Unlike other GPS tracking devices, the device can function independently without the use of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or any other external device support. 

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The team 

Based out of Kolkata, the product was launched in 2019. Apart from Dhananjay, the team consists of Krishna Gupta, Chief Technology Officer, who also runs a successful IT Software company called MIS in Canada. Krishna has been responsible for the app design, POS Systems, and even making a crypto for private institutions. 

Richank Tiwari, Chief Marketing Officer, comes from a PR and media background. Ajeet K Bhasin, Chief of Operations, comes with 18 years of experience in the banking sector; and Sunil Nathi, Tech Mentor, comes with an experience of over 40 years in IoT and IT Space. Sunil has worked for projects by ISRO, the Indian Defence and many other organisations. 

How it works?

Safe Locket is a high-tech yet simple device for personal safety and protection. The product is manufactured by Atraxia Manufacturing Pvt Ltd, which creates and researches new-age, cutting edge technology and provides a different approach to solutions. 

The product has been developed not only for women, but also for children and the elderly. While wearing Safe Locket, all one needs to do is immediately press the locket and within minutes help will arrive. The product has been developed in collaboration with IIT Kharagpur students, engineers from around the globe, including engineers and developers from ISRO and Indian Defence engineers. 

"Our aim is to make a safer India and take the advancements to the next level. Safe Locket is one of the most compact wearable devices, which is also a standalone (independently functioning) device and does not need any external support like phone, Wi-Fi, etc, to work and function. This makes it one of the most tech advanced devices of its type not just in India, but in the entire world,” says Dhananjay. 

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The device also has an option to be tracked anytime, anywhere. Users can send an SOS message on WhatsApp or a text message and Safe Locket app alert with GPS location along with a small voice recording of whatever is happening there. 

Safe Locket has a fall detect option, which will detect if a user falls down and the device sends a message to their safe contact. No internet connection is required for this as Safe Locket comes pre-loaded with internet, SIM, etc. One can simply wear it and use it.

The device has a battery life of up to two days and recharges instantly. Safe locket is also weatherproof and is priced at Rs 7,500. 

“In full production, we will be able to produce 1,000 devices in a day. The time to develop this specific version took about two years,” says Dhananjay. 

According to Grand View Research, the global self-defence products market size was valued at $2.4 billion in 2018 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.9 percent from 2019 to 2025. Some of the startups in the space include Xboom, Safecity, Hera Global Tech, and others. 

“Our vision is to provide comfort and a sense of security to those millions of people who feel scared and unsafe and to be a support system for them. Our target is to see two million people wearing Safe Locket by the end of the year 2022,” says Dhananjay.