The Next Chapter for Flare
Sara de Zarraga & Quinn Fitzgerald
We are proud to announce that Flare has joined a portfolio of companies owned by Smart Alert Holdings. Smart Alert is building a portfolio of companies specializing in personal safety technology, which includes both Flare and Invisawear.
When we started Flare 6 years ago, we were frustrated by an antiquated personal safety industry that only viewed the problem of personal safety through stereotypes and created solutions that often caused more harm than good. We didn’t see personal safety products that felt authentic to our needs or brands that understood and connected with the consumer. We’re talking pepper spray, personal alarms, brass knuckles… Industry leaders were offering products that no one liked, but they were so desperate to protect themselves that they were buying them anyway.
There are so many others that had the same experience. People told us they didn’t like what these products represented, how they made them feel, how they looked, or how they worked. The products were in your face, they were clunky, and they simply didn’t meet peoples’ needs and lifestyles.
We realized there was an opportunity to create a new category of personal safety technology and that as survivors and business women we were in a unique position to do it. We wanted to share our experiences and those of others to create an authentic brand that had a story, that people could connect with, and that would start a big conversation about how we all view and experience safety. A brand that was radically transparent: a brand that sought to create a world in which it didn’t need to exist.
Unlike those before us, we didn’t claim to “solve” safety, we sought to create a better tool to try and prevent what happened to us from happening to someone else. Even if we could prevent just one more assault, it would be worth it. While safety, and in particular the safety of marginalized communities, still continues to be one of the largest problems facing our world today, , we are very proud of the impact we’ve been able to have in 6 short years.
Flare has worked to redefine personal safety to include what we call the full spectrum of safety needs. Safety isn’t black and white: you’re safe or you’re not safe. There’s a full spectrum of feelings that includes getting red flags, feeling unsure, working through your own doubts and disbelief, feeling embarrassed, wanting to take action to protect yourself and not knowing how,… all the way to knowing that you’re in an emergency. By expanding this definition, we could create solutions that better helped people in many different moments and in many different ways.
Flare quickly became a leader in the industry — receiving recognition from Wired, CBS’ Innovation Nation, Time’s Best Inventions, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Company, and Fast Company’s Innovation by Design.
Through the Flare bracelet and app, we helped people get both emergency response when they were in trouble and take action to get out of questionable situations before they escalated. We scaled a community of people taking personal safety into their own hands — growing to over 30,000 customers and countless friends and families they could rely on for help and support when needed. We provided over 1.3 million days of protection to our users and managed over 150,000 activations of the bracelets.
We felt Flare’s impact in that community first-hand, with 100% of customers reporting that they felt safer when wearing Flare. Users told us in tears that Flare gave them “peace of mind” when out living their lives and the “confidence” to move through the world safely as someone who had experienced assault, calling the product and service “life changing”.
The fight for safety and protection for women and marginalized people is far from over. There is no one solution to that problem. We know the fight to end sexual assault and violence will take all of us working together. We are proud to join forces with Smart Alert to continue to fight for our shared vision for a safer world.
This moment wouldn’t be possible without the incredibly talented and passionate Flare team and collaborators, the financial support of our investors, and the professional and emotional support of our advisors, and most importantly — our customers.
Thank you for believing in Flare, for letting us be a part of your own journey, and for playing a pivotal role in the movement for personal safety for all.