The Full Story
The idea for SAFE-ROAM was developed in the Impact X Startup Accelerator Program at the College of Charleston. Strangers in the beginning, the four of us co-founders were grouped together to launch a start-up that would follow one or more of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) discovered by the United Nations.
SAFE-ROAM was born out of the obvious lack of accessibility in historic cities, such as Charleston, South Carolina. During the semester-long course, Impact X, we became acutely aware of how few resources there were for people with disabilities.
At the end of the semester, we pitched to a panel of judges and investors in a competition with the other teams from our class. Out of the 12 teams competing, we placed second in the judges’ votes, as well as first place in the popular choice made up of audience members casting their own vote. From these two achievements, SAFE-ROAM was awarded $1,000 in seed money to launch the business.
