Five thousand, nine-hundred eighty-one. That’s the number of sexual assault claims Uber received in 2019. In 2020 that number was lower due to pandemic lockdowns, but there were nearly a thousand assault reports, and troublingly, 141 reports of rape. Lyft isn’t much better, recording 4,158 sexual assault incidents between 2017 and 2019. Suffice to say, women’s safety is at risk when using ride-sharing services. And as Black Enterprise reports, stats like these inspired two entrepreneurs to create the women-only ride-sharing app HERide.

Created in 2020 by former ride-share driver Jillian Anderson and DeVynne Starks, HERide is precisely what it sounds like: A ride-sharing app for women. Anderson says the idea for the app came to her while she was out driving one night. Women she picked up kept expressing the need for a ride-sharing option that put their safety first.