Todd Baldree, a Greenville-based entrepreneur, made his mark providing outsourced contact center solutions for the apartment industry. After selling his most recent venture, Level One, he took some time off and starting looking for what came next.
“I wanted it to have some kind of social purpose, not just capitalistic,” Baldree says.
Two things happened to set him on his path. Baldree was invited to attend a sex trafficking prevention fundraiser, which opened his eyes to how prolific a problem it has become. Around the same time, he watched “The Hunting Ground,” a documentary about sexual assault on college campuses. Add to this the fact that Baldree is the father of a daughter quickly approaching college age, with a son not far behind, and what came next seemed pretty clear: a smartphone device designed to prevent sexual assault.
According to Baldree, the Aluma Connect combines the best of what is currently on the market with a nearly foolproof way to make sure it’s always with you when you need it.
“When I started down this path of personal safety devices, what I was surprised to learn was there wasn’t anything that attached to a cellphone. There was this whole wave of wearables that are key fobs or necklaces or rings or whatever, but you have to remember to bring those with you,” Baldree says. There is a “whole wave” of standalone personal safety apps, he notes, but to access those, a user in distress may have to fumble with the phone’s lock screen.
As he dug deeper, he uncovered statistics suggesting noise is an effective deterrent in many sexual assault cases.
“So I thought if we can attach something to a cellphone that has an alarm, that then triggers an app to tell people that you might be in trouble, it seems like you’ve kind of got the solution figured out,” Baldree says.
Interrupting ‘uncomfortable situations’
The Aluma Connect allows users to set up a network of up to five trusted contacts who receive a text and an email when the alarm is triggered, either by pulling out the attached wristband to trigger a 135-decibel audible alarm or pressing a button on the device to send a silent alert. The contacts can indicate whether they are available to help and then are joined on a conference call to coordinate next steps. The wristband is attached for times when a wearable is appropriate — running, for instance, or walking alone at night — but can be stored when not worn.
While he was working on the concept for Aluma Connect, Baldree was introduced to Tracy Carson, a graduate of Presbyterian College and licensed mental health counselor who regularly speaks to college audiences about sexual assault. Baldree saw an opportunity to add to the depth of his mission by bringing Carson on board as his director of education.
“Todd wanted to bring someone on that had clinical experience around sexual assault, bullying, and isolation,” Carson says, adding that she was impressed with how user-friendly the device is, specifically for college students.
Megan Fallon works in Clemson University’s Title IX office as the school’s interpersonal violence prevention coordinator. While she agrees it’s never bad to have personal security tools at one’s disposal, she cautions against the false sense of security those devices may create among young people putting themselves in situations where alcohol is fueling poor choices all around.
“The body responds to trauma in a very specific way — fight, flight, or freeze — and most people freeze,” Fallon says. “I’m always wary of products, and even some curriculum, that put the onus on the victim. The larger conversation needs to be around how do we continue to reach the younger population with conversations about healthy consensual sexual decision-making.”
Carson says the young women she speaks with on college campuses tell her they are bombarded with education and heeding the advice, but traveling in groups and sticking to familiar surroundings doesn’t help when the danger isn’t strangers.
This is where Fallon and Carson agree: The vast majority of sexual assaults on college campuses are performed by someone the victim knows, and often likes. And this is where Carson thinks the silent alarm feature sets Aluma Connect apart — helping young women discreetly signal their friends that an uncomfortable situation needs interrupting.
“The silent alarm is a game-changer for college women,” Carson says. “They’re not going to sound an [audible] alarm in a fraternity house just because they’re making out with somebody and don’t want to anymore. I can’t tell you how many women have said, ‘I was in a situation and just didn’t know how to get out of it.’”
‘Can’t solve for everything’
Baldree sees the value in educating young people about sexual assault, and to that end he and his team are developing the Man Up Project, designed to target high school and college age men with messaging around “manning up and doing the right thing,” and taking the “cool factor” out of sexual assault from the male perspective.
“The thing I had to realize was I can’t solve for everything. I don’t think there’s a way to put an end to crime, but I think we can do our fair share of it,” Baldree says. “If someone has a better solution, I actually will support that solution, because we’re trying to solve a problem.”
While the college market is a “no-brainer,” Baldree plans to target other segments as well.
“It’s really anybody 10 years old or older that has a smartphone,” he says.
This could mean middle school kids being bullied, or high school kids whose decision-making skills are clouded by hormones, alcohol, and the freedom that comes with a driver’s license. The adult group, he says, can be broken down into categories like runners, real estate agents, home health workers, Uber drivers — anyone whose job requires them to be alone with strange people.
“Then we were really surprised to learn this seniors market,” Baldree says. “Thirteen million seniors live by themselves in America, and they may not like some of the alternatives that are out there. They don’t want to wear a necklace; they don’t want to feel old.”
Carson says in an age when grandparents are FaceTiming their grandkids and bragging about them on social media, products marketed to this segment should be keeping pace with their tech savvy.
“I’m excited about reducing the stigma and shame of adulthood and aging,” she says. “[Older adults] are aging with their smartphones, so why wouldn’t their safety device match the technology of the environment they’re aging in?”
Baldree expects the first iteration of Aluma Connect to ship this summer. An individual device will retail for $99.99, plus a $2 monthly subscription fee for the app, and bundles of three or more will sell for $89.99 per device.
Company: Aluma Connect
Founder: Todd Baldree
Product: Personal safety device that connects to a smartphone
Potential market: College students are a “no-brainer,” says Baldree — but he also sees usefulness for bullied children, seniors, and “anybody whose job requires them to be alone with strange people.”
Differentiators: Unlike other personal safety devices, your cellphone is always with you, says Baldree. Being able to trigger an alarm directly saves the need to go through several phone screens to access a standalone app. A silent alarm is a “game-changer,” says education director Tracy Carson.
Availability: The company is now taking pre-orders, with shipping expected this summer
Unit price: $99.99 for single device, plus $2 monthly subscription
