West Hartford Residents On A Mission With New Wearable Safety Products

Two West Hartford residents are on a mission to positively impact 10 million lives in the next 10 years and thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, they are off and running.

David Benoit is the Co-Founder of Wearsafe Labs, a Connecticut-based technology startup developing wearable personal safety products, and Kim Glooch is the Chief Creative Officer.

In order to help reach their goals, the company has had a successful campaign on Kickstarter, raising its first $75,000 in less than four weeks.

• To sign up for West Hartford breaking news alerts and more, click here.

And Wearsafe will soon be rolling out the Wearsafe Tag, which is a small, wearable Bluetooth low-energy device that pairs seamlessly with a smartphone to instantly connect a person with their network of family and friends.

“We’ve achieved our goal of $75,000, and that is incredible, but we have an even greater purpose to realize,” said Benoit, a technology attorney who has been counseling tech startups and fortune 100 clients on complex technology and IP transactions for more than 15 years. “For us, saving lives goes beyond those which would have been lost, to also include those which might otherwise be irreparably altered by a bad experience. With this new technology we have the ability to empower, connect and protect the people we love and help to keep each other safe.”

Phill Giancarlo, Co-Founder of Wearsafe Labs, said ““We cannot thank the Wearsafe community enough for their overwhelming support. We are so grateful to and humbled by the backers who believe in us and our mission to save 10 million lives over the next ten years.”

Wearsafe’s Kickstarter campaign is the launching point for the company’s mission to positively impact 10 million lives in the next 10 years.

“As humans we inherently care about our safety and the safety of those closest to us,” Glooch said. “When you need it the most, your phone can be out of reach, hard to open, or you may not want to reveal you need help, so Wearsafe will call for you. The Wearsafe service and product will keep you safer wherever you are and more secure in whatever you’re doing.”

Benoit and Giancarlo have spent nearly four years developing new wearable technology aimed at preventing the unthinkable from happening.

Just weeks after the conclusion of the Kickstarter campaign, which ends Aug. 20, Wearsafe will begin shipping its first offering, the Wearsafe Tag.

“The Wearsafe Tag will change how we connect and how we stay safe,” Giancarlo said.

The Wearsafe Tag is a small, wearable Bluetooth low-energy device that pairs seamlessly with a smartphone to instantly connect a person with their network of family and friends. The device, which can clip onto almost anything, uses one discreet touch of a button with a range of up to 200 feet.

When activated, a selected network instantly receives an alert through email, text and their Wearsafe app, a group chat is started and the network can see where someone is with the GPS information provided as well as hear audio from the location. Users can also receive tactile confirmation to let them know their alert has been received. If additional assistance is needed, contacts can dial 911 directly from the Wearsafe app and share critical information.

Former U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Rich Staropoli, who is Wearsafe’s security advisor as well as Chief Security Officer for Fortress in NYC, considers the Tag to be a game changer.

“It’s a simple device, incredibly effective and works all the time,” he said. “As a former Secret Service Agent, if I couldn’t be there with the President, I would want him to have a Wearsafe Tag in his pocket.”

Pictured: West Hartford residents David Benoit, Co-Founder of Wearsafe Labs, and Kim Glooch, Chief Creative Officer. Contributed photos

Also pictured are some of the Wearsafe technology