CrowdGuard
CrowdGuard is a hybrid nonprofit/social enterprise that combines a peer-led bystander intervention training programme and a geolocation-based mobile app to prevent gender-based violence, primarily serving women, university students, and Indian organizations requiring POSH Act compliance.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersNew Delhi, India
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What CrowdGuard does
CrowdGuard is a hybrid nonprofit/social-enterprise organization that addresses gender-based violence and sexual harassment by combining a community-driven bystander intervention programme with a geolocation-based mobile app. Founded in 2014 in New Delhi and legally registered as the tax-exempt CrowdGuard International Association in Zurich, Switzerland in 2018, the organization trains a network of "Youth Ambassadors" — primarily college students — to facilitate peer-based workshops based on a RAKHI curriculum (respect, alertness, knowledge, hurdle-overcoming, inspiration), typically 78 minutes in length. The technology stack behind the CrowdGuard Android app includes a Java-based mobile client, a PHP/Laravel + MySQL backend, and a custom C-based XMPP/Jabber server (cgircd) that uses geohash partitioning to match users to nearby trained helpers, with offline trigger mechanisms (headphone jack removal or triple power-button press) and TLS-encrypted chat for coordination. The beta app was released on October 15, 2015, and 5,500+ participants were engaged in the 2015-2016 New Delhi beta phase, with 2,137 surveyed and 100% of simulated incidents receiving bystander help.
The revenue model is hybrid: CrowdGuard International Association is financed primarily by private donations and CSR contributions, while a sister social enterprise called Crowdtect holds the app source code and receives license fees from the nonprofit. A tiered B2B compliance service line was added in 2017, offering POSH Act 2013 policy templates, audit checklists, and complaint committee support, with a free Basic tier, an invitation-only Sponsored tier with on-premises audit, and a Premium tier with custom policies under multi-year flat-fee contracts. Operating geographies span Zurich, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Vellore in India, with the India entity still in registration as of the latest data, and named partners include HopeInU, the Railway Protection Force (Western Railways), IIT Delhi, Ashoka India, Swissnex India, SAP, Volkart Foundation, and Google Grants.
CrowdGuard firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- CrowdGuard
- Legal name
- CrowdGuard International Association
- Website
- https://crowdguard.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- CrowdGuard is a hybrid nonprofit/social enterprise that combines a peer-led bystander intervention training programme and a geolocation-based mobile app to prevent gender-based violence, primarily serving women, university students, and Indian organizations requiring POSH Act compliance.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
CrowdGuard industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Personal Safety & Workplace Harassment Compliance
- NAICS
- Investigation and Security Services (5616), Security Guards and Patrol Services (561612)
- SIC
- Services-Detective, Guard & Armored Car Services (7381)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Event Security & Crowd Management (IMAIAEAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Event & Crowd Management Security Training (BPAKAOAD)
Keywords
Where CrowdGuard is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New Delhi
- HQ country
- India
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices2 records
Markets served
CrowdGuard business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Charitable Contributions: The nonprofit organization CrowdGuard International Association receives donations from private individuals and organizations. As a tax-exempt nonprofit, donations are eligible for charitable tax receipts.
- Social Enterprise Licensing (Crowdtect): Crowdtect social enterprise handles app development, maintains source code, and provides technical support. License fees flow from CrowdGuard International to Crowdtect.
- Compliance Services: Tiered compliance service offerings for organizations: Basic free tier with templates and guidelines; Sponsored tier with on-premises audit; Premium tier with custom policies and tailored processes at flat rate user fee.
- CSR Contributions: Corporate Social Responsibility funding from companies seeking to support gender safety initiatives.
- Social Impact Investment: Access to social impact investments enabled by the hybrid nonprofit/social enterprise structure.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Free | Basic Free - Templates and guidelines for organizations |
| Subscription | Annual | Sponsored - External audit certificate upon invitation |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Premium - Custom policies and tailored processes |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
CrowdGuard product offering
Product offeringCore offering
CrowdGuard operates a community-driven personal safety platform combining a geolocation-based mobile emergency response app, peer-facilitated bystander intervention training workshops delivered through its Youth Ambassador Programme, and tiered organizational compliance services supporting implementation of India's POSH Act 2013 (Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace). The app allows users to trigger silent alarms that alert nearby trained helpers, while workshops and compliance offerings target gender-based violence prevention in public and workplace settings.
Product overview
CrowdGuard is a hybrid nonprofit/social enterprise organization offering a suite of interconnected products and services to prevent gender-based violence. The core offering consists of the CrowdGuard mobile app (for real-time emergency response coordination with geolocation and chat), complemented by peer-based bystander activation workshops delivered through the Youth Ambassador Programme, and organizational compliance services (policy templates and audits) for POSH Act implementation. The organization is financed by private donations and receives license fees from its subsidiary social enterprise Crowdtect.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- CrowdGuard Mobile App Free Android mobile app that enables users to trigger silent alarms during emergencies and receive help from nearby trained CrowdGuard helpers via real-time geolocation dispatch, chat coordination, and GPS navigation. Target users are individual women and community members in India.
- Bystander Activation Workshop Programme Peer-based training workshop (typically 78 minutes) teaching civil intervention skills, empathy, safety planning, and bystander barriers. Delivered by Youth Ambassadors at colleges, universities, and community settings in India.
- Youth Ambassador Programme Structured peer-facilitation training program that certifies college students as CrowdGuard facilitators to deliver bystander intervention workshops in their own communities.
- POSH Act Compliance Services Tiered compliance support for Indian organizations implementing anti-harassment policies under the POSH Act 2013: Basic (free templates, guidelines, audit checklist, self-audited certificate), Sponsored (annual, on-premises audit with external certificate, invitation-only), and Premium (multi-year flat-rate user fee, custom policies, tailored processes, on-premises workshops).
Quantifiable outcome
- 5,500+ participants reached during 2015-2016 beta phase in New Delhi
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use CrowdGuard
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
CrowdGuard technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
CrowdGuard partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- HopeInUcoreKey partnership for Youth Ambassador Programme pilot phase in Delhi NCR. HopeInU is India's first women-led independent professional mentoring and active citizenship club for university students. They published 10 recommendations for women's safety and collaborated on workshop facilitation.
- CrowdtectcoreSocial enterprise organization responsible for app development, maintaining source code, and providing technical support and digital work tools to CrowdGuard International. Boot-strapped social enterprise that receives license fees from CrowdGuard International.
- ImpactHUB ZurichcoreHosting location for CrowdGuard International Association. Provided workspace, workshops, and professional coachings through Social Impact Start program. Part of the Social Impact ecosystem supporting the organization's legal formation.
- Swissnex IndiasupportingCo-organized citizen dialogues and provided webinar platform for social entrepreneurship discussions. Facilitated connections with Indian startup ecosystem including TechSparks events.
- Ashoka IndiasupportingCo-organized Citizen Dialogue for #SaferIndia bringing together change makers to discuss high-impact solutions for public safety.
- EnpactsupportingEnpact Fellowship by Auswärtiges Amt Deutschland enabled exchange with social entrepreneurs from Middle East and North Africa regions to share learnings about local challenges.
- Social Impact Start BerlinsupportingProgram providing workspace, workshops and professional coachings for social start-ups. Mid-term jury participation by CrowdGuard team member Tina Büchler.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
CrowdGuard competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Circle of 6: Campus-focused personal safety app designed for college students to quickly reach their circle during unsafe situations. Strongly comparable in combining a mobile safety app with bystander/intervention concepts in a university setting.
- Noonlight: Personal safety mobile app that dispatches help via a one-touch trigger to a dispatcher and trusted contacts. Directly comparable on the mobile emergency-response use case, though CrowdGuard layers a community helper network and bystander training on top.
- SafetiPin (MySafetipin): India-based women's safety platform that combines a mobile app with on-ground safety audits and community data. Closest peer in the Indian women's-safety + community-data niche, though CrowdGuard adds a bystander-intervention training layer.
- bSafe: Personal safety app offering live location sharing, alarm triggers, and follow-me timers for friends and family. Closely comparable on real-time geolocation-based helper dispatch and silent-alarm UX.
- Hollie Guard: Personal safety app with shake/button-trigger alarms and location-sharing to contacts. Comparable on the one-touch trigger and trusted-contacts dispatch model for women's safety use cases.
- Rave Mobile Safety: Mass-notification and personal safety app widely deployed on US university campuses for emergencies. Comparable on campus-safety partnerships and mobile panic-button UX for large distributed populations.
Regional players
- PoshAtWork / SheWorks: POSH Act-focused service providers in India offering policy templates, training, and audits for Indian workplaces. Compares directly on the Indian POSH compliance-services revenue stream CrowdGuard targets.
- i-SEC (Indian Security & Emergency Corp): India-based security guard and event security services provider with comparable presence in Delhi NCR and adjacent compliance/crowd-safety categories. Useful as an incumbent reference point on the guard/event-services side of CrowdGuard's adjacent market.
Emerging players
- Citizen (Originally Vigilante): Real-time safety alert app notifying nearby users of incidents, leveraging geolocation and crowdsourced signals. Overlapping on geolocation-based alert mechanics for everyday safety, though focused on crime/incident reporting rather than intervention training.
Broad incumbents
- Life360: Large-scale family location-sharing and personal safety platform with mass consumer reach. Comparable as a geolocation-based safety app, but broader family-safety positioning versus CrowdGuard's community-intervention focus.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
CrowdGuard social profiles
Digital presenceCrowdGuard financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
CrowdGuard leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
CrowdGuard subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
CrowdGuard funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
CrowdGuard M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about CrowdGuard
What does CrowdGuard do?
CrowdGuard operates a community-driven personal safety platform combining a geolocation-based mobile emergency response app, peer-facilitated bystander intervention training workshops delivered through its Youth Ambassador Programme, and tiered organizational compliance services supporting implementation of India's POSH Act 2013 (Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace). The app allows users to trigger silent alarms that alert nearby trained helpers, while workshops and compliance offerings target gender-based violence prevention in public and workplace settings.
Is CrowdGuard a public or private company?
CrowdGuard is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was CrowdGuard founded?
CrowdGuard was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is CrowdGuard based?
CrowdGuard is headquartered in New Delhi, India, in the Asia region.
How does CrowdGuard make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Donations and Charitable Contributions are the primary driver. The others are social Enterprise Licensing (Crowdtect), compliance Services, CSR Contributions and social Impact Investment.
Who are CrowdGuard's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Circle of 6, Noonlight, SafetiPin (MySafetipin), bSafe, Hollie Guard and Rave Mobile Safety. Regional players are PoshAtWork / SheWorks and i-SEC (Indian Security & Emergency Corp). Citizen (Originally Vigilante) is listed as an emerging player. Life360 is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does CrowdGuard have an API?
No public API is recorded for CrowdGuard.
What industry is CrowdGuard in?
CrowdGuard's product category is Personal Safety & Workplace Harassment Compliance. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMAIAEAD, Event Security & Crowd Management, with a secondary code of BPAKAOAD, Event & Crowd Management Security Training. Its NAICS code is 5616 and its SIC code is 7381.