Rave Me Away

Rave Me Away is a solution born out of crisis and an awareness that something better must be possible. For the last several years, the news has depicted horror stories of kids and young adults being seriously injured or dying at musical events. Mosh pits and stampedes recklessly took the lives of attendees, taking them from their friends and families far too young. The most notable incident occurred during Travis Scott’s Astroworld tour in November 2021. Ten people died and twenty-five were injured. The founder and CEO of Rave Me Away, Charles Hinnant, attended this concert. Watching it all unfold, he believed there must be a way to prevent it. Too often, whether it be stampedes, mosh pits, drug overdoses, heat stroke, or dehydration, life threatening events aren’t responded to quickly enough or at all. Because of this, Rave Me Away was created.

In the entertainment space, there’s been a great deal of innovation over the last few decades. Concerts are bigger and bolder. Despite this, there’s been no progress regarding health and safety at these events since the 1990s. Ignited by fusion of Charles’ passion and vision, Rave Me Away attempts to solve this problem. Charles himself is an avid music supporter and concert attendee. Seeing that something must be done, he created a platform paired with a product intended to improve the safety of event attendees. The product uses two-way RFID chips to create a geo-mapped space of a live event and track the location of each user, allowing them to be monitored in real time. The chips are installed inside wristbands worn by attendees that allow them to alert Rave Me Away and emergency services to an ongoing health emergency. This signal alerts paramedics and EMS staff at the event, directing them to the attendee in need. The hope is that this will significantly cut down on the time it takes to administer aid. By partnering with Rave Me Away, event venues can lower their insurance premiums, making this a win-win.

In terms of development, the estimate is that there will be a finished product to take to clients within the next twelve months. The hope is that by next year’s festival season, sometime between March and April, Rave Me Away can start testing. In the past several months, Charles has collected user and customer data at venues across the country. He’s received input from event staff and venues on how useful this product would be and the ability to use something like Rave Me Away in real time. The feedback has been very positive. Everyone with whom Charles has spoken is incredibly excited and wants him to show them a working product.

The development of the minimum viable product (MVP) has been underway since the start of this summer. Charles and his interns have been developing the brand and product since May, and significant progress is being made. On the administrative side, Charles is still looking for cofounders who can work in a CTO or COO capacity. Currently, it’s just him, which he names as one of the two main challenges he’s faced during this process. The other challenge involves his role as a founder without a technical background. Bringing on someone with a technical background in a CTO capacity remains at the top of his priority list.

Enter Vertex Labs. They consulted and provided the development team with technical guidance in a way Charles couldn’t. Interns were given an organized structure, and Charles could focus his attention toward generating more funding from investors and interest from customers. This came as a great relief to Charles, because his “biggest obstacle thus far has been [his] attempts to communicate on the same level of dream and vision to implementation.” Effectively communicating with software engineer interns about his vision proved to be challenging. Vertex Labs has bridged that gap and augmented the progress of the MVP and the startup itself.

Charles himself started in media sales at a Fortune 500 company. After completing his undergraduate degree at the College of Charleston, he worked for Dish Media as a Dish Coordinator. There he analyzed consumer data and, using those analyses, targeted customers and specific demographics. The skills he developed at Dish and his desire to position his career path in an upward trajectory brought him to pursue his masters in marketing & communications at Georgetown University. During this time, he attended that infamous Astroworld concert. Following this experience, his desire to find a way to prevent such catastrophes developed into the idea behind Rave Me Away. Inspired by advisors and professors, Charles decided to enter a pitch competition and, from this, Rave Me Away was born. Charles has been able to leverage his experience in sales and marketing, blended with his true passion, to create a product he can be proud of. He hopes to work in an area that makes him happy while also being able to help people.