This Indonesian startup wants to help women drive more safely
With a mission to empower women to ride cars and motorbikes safely, Queenrides claimed that it is on the way to reach break-even point soon
Queenrides Founder Iim Fahima Jachja
Anyone who had been to Jakarta would be able to tell that there is an ongoing road safety issue in the city. And the data speaks for itself.
“In the past three years, according to data from the private sector, the number of women riders are increasing significantly at 42 per cent on average. At the same time, Indonesia is also one of the worst countries in terms of road safety. Our death-by-road-accident statistic is the highest in the world,” reveals Queenrides Founder Iim Fahima reveals to e27 over coffee.
Jachja further explains that in a recent survey made by the company, 80 per cent of women claim that they are using their vehicles (motorbikes and cars) every day for work purposes, spending up to four hours each day on the road.
Also Read: Baidu will build self-driving cars with Nvidia, and test them in Silicon Valley
“The number of women who become victims of road accidents increased up to 46 per cent in the two years,” she adds.
She passionately explains how, despite the increasing number and the safety threats that they are facing every day on the road, the automotive industry and the government do not seem to give much attention to safety driving issue among women riders.
“The automotive industry has always been a masculine industry … I believe this is why, despite the increasing number, nobody seems to be aware of this problem. Or perhaps they are aware of it, but they see it as nothing more than numbers,” she stresses.
Also Read: Startup that fulfils your dream of meeting celebs or riding luxury cars gets US$500K funding
This concern eventually led to the founding of Queenrides. At first glance, the platform looks just like any other women-focussed lifestyle websites, but once one begins to read the articles in it, the difference is clear.
Queenrides is an offline and online platform that aims to empower women through safety riding. It publishes articles on safety riding — produced in partnership with international non-government organisation (NGO) Global Road Safety Association — and host events to bring awareness on the importance of safety driving.
“Our approach is to make safety riding as a lifestyle, which we present in a fashionable package,”says Jachja.
Also Read: SoftBank, Honda to develop cars that can read driver emotions
The company combines offline and online platforms as Jachja is a firm believer in the efficacy in live conversations in sending out messages.
“If we want to spread awareness, the online platform is not enough. It takes face-to-face conversation,” she says.
It also has an e-commerce feature, selling safety riding-related merchandises, which is currently on hiatus. “We’re preparing a better system for it,” explains Jachja.
Also Read: Infographic: The road to self-driving cars
The startup is currently run by a team of six (the majority of them being women); all of them are working remotely in different areas in Jakarta.
Jachja takes pride in the fact that ever since its inception, Queenrides has been self-funded. In fact, the founder stated that it is on the way to reach the break-even point by next year.
“My principle is that I am not going to raise funds from investors since early on. No way. For me, the business has to prove that it is able to generate revenue, can sustain on its own. And we’ve been able to make money ever since the beginning,” she explains, citing brand marketing and advertising as the platforms’ source of income.
Also Read: How can technology take autonomous vehicles beyond personal cars?
The startup has partnered with various brands, from Japanese automotive giant Honda to local beauty mogul Sari Ayu.
In the future, Queenrides aims to take their mission further by launching their new product in November. Jachja declines to reveal what the new product is but gives us hints of its possible uses.
“What we are doing now is basically the Stage One, where we are going from zero awareness, to awareness, to having the intention to change,”says Jachja.
The next natural stage would be the implementation of the knowledge gained from the initiatives.
“Next we want to be able to track their behaviour, up to the point where we can quantify that the number of road accidents happening to women is decreasing. This is the technology that we are currently preparing,” she closes.
—
Image Credit: Queenrides
The post This Indonesian startup wants to help women drive more safely appeared first on e27.
