Its ambition: to revolutionize security. The young Lyon start-up Safee, now based in Marseille, intends to conquer the international market. In 2023, it won an award at CES in Las Vegas for its latest innovation: an anti-aggression case. “When we won, I cried,” confides Luc Nadier, founder of the company and proud of his “baby”, as he calls it.
The principle ? Magnetized to the phone, the box, connected to an application, is activated as soon as a button is pressed. Two operating modes. A “classic” with a thunderous 130 decibel alarm, audible up to 100 meters away. “This allows you to surprise the attacker and alert people around you,” explains Luc Nadier. And a “discreet” mode, designed for “cases of domestic violence, school harassment and workplace harassment”.
“Recorded evidence”
In this scenario, the application sends the location of the victim to previously preselected contacts. And transmits to them live the images from the camera, placed at the back of the box. “The evidence is thus recorded and available in the contacts’ phone, if the victim ever has theirs stolen,” specifies the entrepreneur. It is also possible to send your journey directly to loved ones.
These features still have their limits, for example the application must be open at the time the box is activated for it to work. The legal problem also arises, since, contrary to European law which prevails on the French, it prohibits filming someone without their consent.
Eureka, I have an idea!
Luc has had the concept of Safee for a long time, drawn from his personal experience. “When I was a teenager, I started going out in Marseille,” he says. “In my group of friends, we have all been attacked at least once,” laments the 25-year-old young man. During his higher studies in Lyon, he made the same observation: insecurity is present everywhere. And begins to work on his project, trying to convince two friends to follow him.
What follows is a year of tests aimed at improving the ergonomics and the various functionalities of the application. The team quickly encountered difficulties: “Apple is putting obstacles in our way when it comes to data confidentiality,” explains Luc. Today, nothing will stop him, he says. His goal ? “I want all people to be able to go out on the streets safely.”
For now, the products have been available for pre-sale since November 9 and will be delivered in early 2024 at a price of 54.90 euros per box and 2.90 euros per monthly subscription to the application.