In late 2018, WanderSafe took a bold step to bring its non-violent personal safety device directly to the people it was built to protect. The company launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to socialize the WanderSafe Beacon — a decision that would transform a prototype conceived in collaboration with a former CIA operative into a product carried by airlines, corporations, and travelers in 57 countries.
From JOZU to WanderSafe: The Pivot That Changed Everything
The WanderSafe Beacon did not begin as a hardware product. In 2016, Co-Founder, CMO, and Global Ambassador Stephenie Rodriguez launched JOZU For Women, a female-focused travel portal powered by an AI interface named JENI. JOZU was designed to make travel safer and more accessible for women, who drive ninety percent of holiday purchase decisions globally.
But in September 2017, after attending the Women's Startup Lab in Silicon Valley, mentors challenged Stephenie to push the concept further. The advice was clear: an app alone was not enough to protect women. The company needed to "productize" its vision.
By early 2018, WanderSafe had pivoted from a digital platform to a full ecosystem combining software with a physical safety device. R&D began in April 2018, with the Beacon designed in collaboration with Thomas Pecora, a retired United States Central Intelligence Agency safety and security expert whose operational philosophy — information, environmental awareness, and equipment — became the foundation of the product.
The Indiegogo Strategy
Crowdfunding served a dual purpose. It provided early capital for manufacturing, but more importantly, it connected WanderSafe directly with its community. The campaign reached a global audience of early adopters who were drawn to the product not just as consumers, but as advocates. Many backers cited the rising statistics on gender-based violence in the travel industry as their primary motivation.
The campaign video, hosted on Vimeo, introduced the Beacon's core features to a worldwide audience: a 1,000-lumen flashlight, a disorienting strobe light, a 140-decibel siren, and a silent SOS button connected to the WanderSafe app. The video positioned the device as the non-violent alternative to traditional self-defense products — designed to deter and disorient, not to harm.
Cannes and Beyond
The Indiegogo campaign coincided with WanderSafe's formal market debut at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes on October 2, 2018. Stephenie intentionally chose this date because it is the UN International Day of Non-Violence and Mahatma Gandhi's birthday — a deliberate alignment of the product's identity with its philosophy.
The launch generated immediate results. Etihad Airways placed the first order on launch day, becoming the first airline in the world to stock the WanderSafe Beacon in its in-flight duty-free catalog. Within a year, WanderSafe had shipped 3,000 Beacons, secured enterprise clients including Deloitte, Revlon, and Booking.com, and won Best New Travel Accessory from Frontier Magazine.
More Than a Product Launch
Looking back, the Indiegogo campaign was more than a funding mechanism. It was the moment WanderSafe became a movement. The backers who supported the campaign were not just buying a device. They were voting for a world where personal safety is a right, not a privilege — where technology serves to protect rather than to punish.
Stephenie has spoken about this distinction repeatedly in media appearances around the world. "Violence only creates more violence," she has said. The Beacon was designed to give people what they need most in a threatening situation: time. Time to alert contacts, time to attract attention, time to escape.
Building Toward a Billion
The Indiegogo campaign planted the seed for everything that followed — the airline partnerships, the B2B enterprise deals, the expansion into 57 countries, and the vision to impact a billion lives. It proved that a community of people who believe in non-violent safety technology is not a niche market. It is a global mandate.
For WanderSafe, the crowdfunding campaign was day one. Everything since has been the work of turning that initial promise into a permanent reality.
Stay safe. Stay informed. Stay connected.