App developed to help curb drunk driving
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
BOZEMAN — A Montana State University alumnus took first place in a recent national entrepreneurship pitch competition for a mobile app he is developing to help curb drunken driving.
Alex Crosby’s HERO app won the top prize in the competition, which was sponsored by the Blackstone LaunchPad and held in Boston as part of the prestigious Forbes Under 30 Summit. Top ventures from 20 schools within the Blackstone network participated in the competition. The first place award comes with $15,000, which will help accelerate his fundraising progress.
Crosby is the co-founder and CEO of HERO app, which aims to reduce drunken driving by providing bars and restaurants with incentives to get customers home safely. HERO app connects users with available transportation options including taxis, public transit and third-party ride services such as Uber, as well as sober designated drivers recruited from a user’s friend network. The app displays the price and location of each option.
Users who receive or give rides are rewarded with points that can be redeemed at participating businesses. Bars and restaurants that promote the service may also be able to lower the insurance premiums that they pay in order to serve alcohol.
Crosby said he had the idea for the app in 2014, after a friend was involved in a drunken driving incident that resulted in him losing his military flight career.
Crosby said he set out to break down communication barriers that prevent people from making responsible transportation choices.
An early iteration of the app was tested in Bozeman.
“We needed extra funding and resources to really make it successful,” Crosby said, and so he turned to the Blackstone LaunchPad at MSU, which helped Crosby network with individuals who expanded the scope of the business. Crosby said his work with the Launch-Pad also set HERO on the path of being accepted into Techstars Mobility, a highly competitive, national startup accelerator program.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Alex and our program,” said Les Craig, director of the Blackstone LaunchPad at MSU. “This is a tremendous example of what our ecosystem is capable of, and Alex’s success will help inspire the tremendous wave of innovation and entrepreneurship that continues to build at Montana State University. We’re just getting started.”
HERO app is the first venture from the state of Montana to participate in Techstars, which is designed to make entrepreneurship accessible by opening doors to capital, mentorship, marketing, business development, customer acquisition and talent recruitment.
Twenty-eight states have requested to work with HERO app, Crosby said. He anticipates that the app will go live this holiday season in Austin, Texas, where he now lives.
Crosby is a 2013 graduate of MSU’s Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship.
“It was an incredible opportunity to participate and pitch live during Forbes 30 Under 30,” Crosby said. “We will take this momentum and work to capitalize on it as we launch the Austin market this holiday season with one of our newest partners, Munich RE.”
