Built an app with
real social impact
My female friends felt unsafe and often spent too much on taxis alone at night. During my Master's, I launched a platform that matches people traveling the same way to make urban transit safe and affordable.
what I did
what I did
Built the core algorithm
Designed and coded the algorithm to match users based on their routes and timing, ensuring optimal pairings.
Created, tested and iterated design
Created the full UI and UX flow using feedback from user testing groups to refine the design.
Launched in the real world
Ran live pilots in venues across London helping students get home safely with real-time matching, verification and guidance.
the story of my first venture
I launched Trippl, with my co-founder Theo Bot, during our final year of Design Engineering at Imperial. The idea came after watching my friends, mostly women, trying to get home safely after a night out. Many of them were on a tight budget, so a lot of money had been spent because they didn't feel safe walking or using public transport.
After running 6 campus trials with 500+ students and an app store soft launch, we realized this was a real problem worth solving. We were invited to pitch at Imperial Enterprise Lab competitions (3 of which we won) and were offered a place in their incubator. At the start it was simple, just a team matching algorithm and an email interface. I kept iterating. I talked to groups who'd experienced what we were trying to solve, and what would make them safer. Eventually, we had a product that matched people based on their route, verified their student status, and helped them find others who to travel with.
We set up our pilots. Six venues across London agreed to trial Trippl. I negotiated partnerships, printed posters, and created a marketing plan. We launched with 500 people across the trials. We had a custom-built matching algorithm that matched students and shared rides home.
Enter ride details screen
Matching algorithm in action
Route planning interface
Promotional material at event locations
Meeting point interface
Venture Catalyst Challenge award ceremony
At the same time, I was pitching. Trippl reached the UK Top 5 of campaigns made for Tomorrow and several targeted startup competitions. I also pitched to UCL, Angel investors, and accelerator programs. Sadly, but importantly, we realized that the business model wasn't viable in the long run without significant funding.
This journey led me to realize that products built for safety need to be tested in the real world. Realtime at venues, friends full of people at each venue, each with their own phone. How these friends interact is a design model that's worth exploring. This was a product tested in the world, with students relying on it to get home safe.
Pitching at Imperial Enterprise Lab
Live demo at campus event