Driver Technologies is an AI-based mobility tech company that delivers a safer driving experience. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Driver Technologies CEO and co-founder Rashid Galadanci to learn more.
Rashid Galadanci’s Background
Galadanci co-founded Driver Technologies in 2018. And Galadanci said:
“I was inspired to start Driver Technologies to share the benefits of advanced vehicle technologies without barriers to access and improve safety for everyone. I’m also a Venture Partner at The Social Entrepreneurs’ Fund and a Director at Pigeonly. Lastly, I hold a B.A. in Political Economy from Dartmouth College, and I’m based in the New York City metropolitan area.”
Formation Of Driver Technologies
How did the idea for Driver Technologies come together? Galadanci shared:
“When I was younger, my dad was a passenger in a severe car accident in Nigeria, which he and the driver survived, thankfully because his friend was affluent and safety-focused enough to import a Volvo, which was incredibly rare in the region.”
“Following the accident, I gained an appreciation for the benefits of advancing vehicle safety and technology while addressing the inequality in access to new vehicles equipped with safety technology, as the average age of a car on the road is over 12.5 years old.”
“Through connecting with my co-founders, Marcus Newbury and Michael Yatco, we founded Driver Technologies to make roads safe and accessible for everyone through the technology available in our pockets via a smartphone.”
Favorite Memory
What has been Galadanci’s favorite memory working for Driver Technologies so far? Galadanci reflected:
“My top two favorite memories involve my team and how we’ve grown our app over the years. We built the company remotely in 2018 as we knew the key players we wanted to support our mission could do so without having to relocate to an in-person location. I’ve found any opportunities to get together in person have been the highlight of my time at Driver, as our people are the foundation of supporting our business.”
“My second favorite memory is reading reviews of the Driver app, both good and bad, as feedback from our users help us shape the next iteration of the Driver app and remind us of our mission to democratize road safety for all.”
Challenges Faced
What are some of the challenges Galadanci faced in building the company? Galadanci acknowledged:
“One of our key focuses at Driver Technologies is to partner with insurance companies to help combine the power of video and telematics to create a score that insurance carriers can use to help calculate your insurance premium based on how you drive instead of traditional factors like demographics or your credit score.”
“When we started, we found that large insurance institutions are risk averse, where implementation of new technologies can take years. To help combat this, we also partner with smaller insurance, car-share platforms, and commercial fleets to gain revenue while building relationships with larger companies for long-term projects.”
Core Products
What are Driver Technologies’ core products and features? Galadanci explained:
“Driver Technologies is an AI-based mobility tech company that delivers the products and services needed to keep everyone protected on the road. Our no. 1 rated mobile app, Driver, transforms a driver’s smartphone into a dash cam designed to improve road safety and make mobility technology more accessible.”
“Our premium offering for consumers allows users to video record their trip while receiving safety alerts such as forward collision and driver drowsiness and distraction warnings while also offering cloud-based video storage, roadside assistance services, coaching, and scoring capabilities. Users have full control over their data stored on the Driver Cloud and can choose what to share with interested parties such as employers, insurers and family members.”
“Our enterprise solution provides customers with premium access to the Driver dash cam app and its mobility safety features equipped with industry-leading machine learning, providing audible alerts, such as distracted driving or forward collision alerts, to keep drivers safe. Fleet managers can also easily access their driver’s dash cam videos in the Driver Cloud, offering a seamless, easy-to-use fleet management and video telematics solution.”
Evolution Of Drivers Technology
How has Driver Technologies evolved since launching? Galadanci noted:
“When we initially launched the Driver app in 2018, we developed a non-hardware-based dashcam and safety app that is designed to constantly evolve as one of the main challenges with hardware dashcams is you have to purchase a new one every few years to have the most updated technology.”
“In 2018, we launched our dashcam app for free in the App Store, which is still available today. As our technology advanced over the years, we launched our premium offering, Driver Premium, which allowed us to expand our AI and computer vision capabilities to provide safety alerts, including forward collision detection, driver drowsiness, and distraction warnings, as well as cloud-based video storage, roadside assistance via our partner, HONK, and gas rewards via GasBuddy.”
“In the last year, we’ve expanded our contextual telematics technology to also include our scoring capability, Driver Score, which provides a road safety score to drivers after 10 hours of driving and coaching along the way to promote good driving habits and visualize your progress as a better driver.”
“Overall, as our technology improves, we find more and more folks driving, which allows us to better understand driving behavior and risk to continuously make our safety system better and more resilient. From a user experience perspective, as our technology evolves, we’re also able to adjust what features and services we launch to determine whether users actually use and enjoy within the app.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of Driver Technologies’ most significant milestones? Galadanci cited:
“We’re very proud to have launched Driver Premium this past year, which allows users to video record their trip while receiving safety alerts such as forward collision and driver drowsiness and distraction warnings while also offering cloud-based video storage, roadside assistance services, coaching, and scoring capabilities.”
“More recently, in the last six months, we launched two subscription plans: Driver Professional for enterprise fleets and Driver Family for households, as well as Driver Cooler, a cooling dash cam phone mount designed to encourage hands-free phone usage in the car. Driver has been leveraging partnerships to expand our offerings to an array of diverse customers, such as entering the OEM market with TomTom and Google Automotive, partnering with Getaround to protect the car rental and sharing economy industry, and integrating our software-first solution on the Geotab Fleet Management Platform.”
Customer Success Stories
Upon asking Galadanci about customer success stories, he commented:
“Our users range from everyday commuters to rideshare drivers to small fleet drivers; therefore, we’ve found Drivers of all age levels and experience can benefit from the Driver app.”
“For example, we received feedback from a user from Colorado who tested our safety suite to make sure it did exactly what we said it would and he was very impressed. As he drives the same route over and over again, the drive can cause a lull, so he’s found Driver’s distracted driving alerts to be very helpful.”
“‘I feel it kept me from checking my phone while driving, which prevented me from being in a crash because I was paying better attention to the road,’ he said. His 15-year-old son also just got his learner’s permit and is using Driver to track his hard braking, speeding, etc. For a nervous, first-time driver, he was receptive to using Driver as he’d appreciate anything that can help make him a better driver.”
“Another example of a favorite customer success story is from a commercial trucking insurance partner that leverages our platform from afar science perspective to better understand geographic and behavioral risk and make their fleets safer. In working with our team, they became more familiar with the app, with its extensive and growing capabilities, and are now rolling it out to all of their insured users – really a fully vertically integrated success story for them and us, plus drivers love the phone+app combo versus traditional hardware.”
Funding
I asked Galadanci about the company’s funding and he replied:
“We recently closed a $6 million strategic funding round co-led by New York-based investment firm IA Capital and CT Innovations, the venture capital arm of the State of Connecticut. Major insurers also participated in the round, including Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, State Auto Labs/Rev 1, as well as investors from The Social Entrepreneurs’ Fund, ID8 Investments, C2 Ventures and Kapor Capital. With the closing of this round, Driver Technologies has now raised more than $16 million.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is Driver Technologies pursuing? Galadanci assessed:
“When we started the company, we saw the massive scale of road safety deaths worldwide, yet we saw the issue is deeply underfunded, under-addressed, and also deeply unfair. At Driver, we see our total addressable market size as everyone who has access to a vehicle and their passengers. According to a recent report from Hedges & Company, there are about 1.446 billion vehicles on Earth in 2022, with about 19% of them in the U.S.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Driver Technologies from its competition? Galadanci affirmed:
“The Driver app, a non-hardware solution dash cam and driver safety alert system available to both consumers and fleets, is currently the only product of its kind that allows users to record video trips while also having full control over who has access to the footage, such as employers, family members, or their insurance company. This feature allows users to feel comfortable using our dashcam as they have the ability to preserve their privacy.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of Driver Technologies’ future company goals? Galadanci concluded:
“In the coming months, we plan to expand our enterprise solution internationally across Latin America and Australia. We also have several partnerships with insurance, automotive, and municipalities nationwide in the works to improve road safety, which will be announced in the next six months. We look forward to further integrating our AI-powered dash cam and safety alert app, Driver, into insurance-backed programs for commercial and personal drivers.”
Data Research
Upon asking Galadanci about the company’s recent data research, he observed:
“Earlier this year, we shared new research with data from over 17,000 drivers that shows using the Driver dash cam and safety app helped coach drivers to implement safe driving behaviors and stop dangerous habits such as tailgating, blowing stop signs, hard braking and speeding. The new research analyzed the driving patterns of 17,000 drivers after using the Driver next-gen dash cam for 20 hours and found that the users were:
―11x less likely to speed
― 4x less likely to run stop signs
― 3x less likely to tailgate
― 3x less likely to hard brake
We’re excited to have proof that telematics and computer vision help coach drivers around the country to implement safe driving behavior to help reduce accidents and improve overall road safety for drivers and their passengers.”
