They’re reimagining what’s possible in transportation!
HERide is a Black woman-founded rideshare company that is revolutionizing the transportation industry by prioritizing safety, equity, and innovation for women and non-binary individuals. Founded by computer science engineer Jillian Anderson in 2020, she and her co-founder DeVynne Starks have committed to leading the charge as the first female friendly ridesharing company. Unlike its competitors, the platform offers women-only driver options, higher fare payouts for drivers at 80% of each fare, and forward-thinking biometric safety features, marking a new era in the rideshare landscape.
“[It is] a major shift in an industry that has historically overlooked women’s safety and earning potential. Despite being a small player in a space dominated by giants, we’re proving that innovation and impact don’t require billion-dollar budgets,” Starks told Because Of Them We Can.
In the five years since its inception, the company has already hit a major milestone. In 2023, HERide became the only other rideshare company approved to operate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest airport in the world, where 80% of the U.S. population is accessible within a two-hour flight.
The company has become a success by staying committed to safety and equity. While Uber and Lyft are just now rolling out women-only ride options, HERide has been doing it since the very beginning, emphasizing the core tenet of its mission and value. HERide has implemented a rigorous 1:1 driver onboarding process, ensuring drivers are properly vetted, which has helped strengthen passenger security. And since 2022, they have also implemented innovative biometric safety features, demonstrating their forward-thinking approach to rider protection.
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The company boasts a strict zero-tolerance policy against sexual assault, impersonation, and misconduct, a policy they implemented with the hopes that other industry heavyweights in the space would follow suit. Still, access to funding remains a challenge, with only 0.34% of all venture capital funding goes to Black women founders. Despite this, HERide has taken a creative, bootstrapped approach to scaling by securing key partnerships, expanding market share, and leveraging relational capital for visibility.
In 2024, the company successfully raised $80K in a Family and Friends round, bringing total funding to $155K for the year. Currently, HERide is raising a $2.5 million pre-seed round in 2025 to continue its expansion. Since its first live ride in March 2022, HERide has grown exponentially, now boasting over 300 drivers, 50,000 downloads, and 20,000 users. To date, the company has relied solely on earned media and community relationships for growth, allowing the company to invest every dollar into improving the app and incentivizing drivers and riders. While still only available in Atlanta and Athens, GA, the company has high hopes of expanding in the future. This spring, HERide 2.0 will launch, introducing new features such as corporate dispatcher accounts and additional enhancements to elevate the user experience.
The goal for both Anderson and Starks is to help spark a movement toward safer, more equitable transportation for women and non-binary individuals. For more information or to join the HERide community, visit www.heride.com.
Cover photo: Black Woman-Owned Rideshare Company, ‘HERide,’ Is Revolutionizing Safety and Equity in Transportation/(l to r) Co-founders Jillian Anderson & DeVynne Starks/Photo credit: HERide