In the latest edition of our meet the founder’s series, we are introducing the founders behind Strides – an AI powered, safety-first navigation app that prioritises the safest route, rather than the fastest. In this blog, co-founding team Jedidah Ajala, Fran Manning and Yasmin Alazizi explain the reason why their technology is so important for their users.

Tell us about your start-up – what problem are you solving and why does it matter? 

Strides exists to empower pedestrians getting from A to B safer. Confidence, awareness and purpose are our core values. We want our Striders to feel confident navigating streets, whether they are a local, a student or a city visitor.

Our app is designed to increase safety awareness of one’s surroundings by providing information for the user to make their own decisions. Our purpose at Strides is to put safety in the hands of all pedestrians one street at a time, by sharing knowledge and increasing confidence to benefit society and those who need it most. 

Tell us more about the team at Strides and your background? 

We are a team of three women studying at the University of Edinburgh: Jedidah Ajala, Fran Manning, and Yasmin Alazizi. We bonded over shared frustrations with safety when walking home at night, and the idea for Strides was born.

Jedidah is a 2nd year Computer Science student and co-founder of Strides. As CEO, Jedidah spearheads the business front of Strides managing company connections, outreach and programme applications. She is skilled in strategy analysis and interpersonal relations, while also having a technical background and interest in the intersection between computer science and ethics.

Fran is a 2nd year Cognitive Science student and a co-founder of Strides. As CTO and back-end developer, she leads the technical development of Strides, focusing on engineering the machine learning pipeline and the handling of Strides’ data. She is skilled in analytical and critical thinking and is interested in philosophy and its relation to artificial intelligence.

Yasmin is a 2nd year Software Engineering student and a co-founder of Strides. As VP of Engineering and Frontend Developer, she helps drive technical decisions, with a focus on building an intuitive and accessible user experience and app interface. She also acts as a bridge between the operational side of the business and the technical side.

What inspired you to start this company? Was there a personal story behind it? 

Few women lack stories like these. Whether it is noticing footsteps falling into step behind you on an empty street, crossing the road to avoid a group outside a pub, or calling someone just to stay on the line while walking home, even when they are nowhere near close enough to actually help, most women carry some version of this experience. It’s usually not one dramatic incident so much as an accumulation of small moments that teach you which streets to trust and which to avoid, a kind of street smartness you only build up over time.

Between the three of us, one is a local, one moved from a different city and one came from a different country altogether, so we’ve each experienced Edinburgh through a different lens. That contrast made it obvious how uneven this street smartness really is. That gap is exactly what inspired Strides. We wanted to take the instincts that locals build up over years and turn them into a tool that works for everyone, locals and newcomers alike.

What are your goals during the accelerator programme? 

During the programme, we’re hoping to deepen our technical expertise and sharpen the skills that will help us build Strides into a stronger product. We also want to level up our business acumen, learning how to think not just like builders but like founders. Just as importantly, we’re looking forward to the accountability that comes with being part of a cohort, growing alongside other like-minded innovators who push us to keep raising the bar.

What has been your proudest moment so far as founders? 

After building, competing and pitching against projects by master’s students at one of Scotland’s most prestigious university technology events, Strides was awarded first place in the Most Positive Impact Track.

Winning the University of Edinburgh’s AI Expo competition was a defining moment for our team. The judges, including a former IBM Business Industry Representative, commended Strides for the strength of its “real-world application”, “technical sophistication”, and commitment to addressing a “genuine societal need”. That day we became a team with an award-winning product, encouraged by queues of members of the public wanting to hear more about what we are building (Our stall had the highest footfall of all competition stalls).

The AI Expo was the start of strongly demonstrated public interest, institutional recognition, and faculty endorsement, that we continue to garner as a company now.

How can people support you? 

We are cultivating an Awareness Economy, where just as network economies run on shared data benefiting a group, you better other users’ experience through rating your route experience as part of the Strides community, feeding into safety awareness that other users utilise to navigate.

We go further when everyone gets involved.

Follow our progress through our socials and join the waitlist for our Edinburgh pilot through the website below!

Website: https://stridesapp.co.uk/  

Strides’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strides-app

Strides’ Instagram: @stridesappofficial

Jedidah’s LinkedIn: Jedidah Ajala Email: jedidah.ajala@stridesapp.co.uk

Yasmin’s LinkedIn: Yasmin Alazizi Email: yasmin.alazizi@stridesapp.co.uk

Fran’s LinkedIn: Francesca Manning Email: francesca.manning@stridesapp.co.uk