- I was living downtown when my neighbor,
she was suddenly grabbed from behind.
She was dragged into an alley,
she was beaten and raped
and when I saw the news story the next day,
that's when I had that light bulb moment.
- Yasmine is the co-founder of ROAR
and the creator of the Athena safety device.
She raised over $300,000 using Indiegogo.
As an entrepreneur, author, and mom,
I know the challenges we face.
Today, crowdfunding and technology have created
more opportunities for women to fund their businesses.
So let's meet a few who are changing
the face of American business
and see what we can learn from them.
Hi everybody, I'm La La Anthony.
Join me for Funded in America.
- I was born in Kuwait.
I am a refugee from the Persian Gulf War.
I came over when I was eight years old.
We were sitting in a bomb shelter when two men burst in.
They told us we had one hour to pack two bags
and they put us on a plane and brought us to Philadelphia.
It turned out that even though we had been
intentionally extracted out of that shelter,
we were considered undocumented.
The period of time that I was undocumented
was a very difficult time in my life because
I remember feeling
that I was always walking on eggshells.
It's easy to go unnoticed and be invisible.
The day I became an American citizen,
one of the reasons it means so much to me is
I could do what I wanted to do for the first time.
I fell in love with technology, especially in terms of
how you can use technology to help people.
I started believing in the notion
that I could make a difference.
Called my now co-founder, Anthony Gold,
told him about what occurred with my neighbor,
and that's when we banded together to start
ROAR for Good and our product name is Athena.
Athena is a safety-wearable accessory
that helps connect you with loved ones
with one push of a button.
We're not just building a product.
We are on a mission to empower women,
reduce assaults, and transform society.
Every woman knows what it feels like
to have the hairs on the back of your neck
stand up as you're walking home late at night,
or that feeling of anticipation, of uneasiness.
- How exactly does it work?
- So this is what it looks like.
It has a band in the back that you use to clasp.
It hooks up to your phone via Bluetooth
and if something was to happen,
you can triple-press it.
They'll send your emergency contacts your GPS location
and a text message saying that you're in trouble.
It'll show them exactly where you are
and actually show you as you move on the map.
You can press and hold it for three seconds
and it will also sound a 95 decibel alarm.
- We don't wanna just build products,
we really wanna change the world and part of that is
we have a ROAR Back Program, is what we call it
where for every one that we sell,
we invest a portion of proceeds
in nonprofits that teach empathy.
Sexual assault on college campuses are under-reported
or brushed under the rug by administration.
So, being able to give those type of training programs
to raise more awareness is really important to us
so that we can spark the conversations.
- Right, going to college, I remember, I went to Howard.
First week, I'll never forget this.
Me and five of my friends were walking to McDonald's.
A guy jumped out on us with a gun
and told us all to lay on the floor, face down
and literally was like, "Give us all your money."
I remember just feeling so helpless in that situation.
I wish there was something like Athena
at that time because that could've just been so helpful.
Definitely necessary on these campuses
because things like this happen, it happened to me.
Well, I'd love to help share your mission
with more college students and help make an impact.
Let's meet with some college administrators
and donate some Athenas to a local university.
How important do you feel it is for
the college community and the college lifestyle?
- We're gonna use it to really connect people
with our educational mission.
- But Athena is more about keeping people safe
and whether we're looking at college students
or at the larger full of the community,
we just want everyone to be safe.
- It's about empowering people
and I think that creates energy.
- [Yasmine voiceover] To go from not really having
many options to now running my own business,
it's an amazing feeling.
Especially being able to be part of a company
that isn't just building a product, it has a purpose
of something much bigger than myself or anyone that's trying
to do good and change the world and make it a better place,
so that other people don't have to live in fear.