Welcome to "Morgan Entrepreneur Spotlight," our monthly-ish showcase where we shine a light on Northeast Ohio's entrepreneurial superstars. Each feature delves into the journeys of individuals who have participated in Morgan Foundation sponsored programs and are harnessing their learnings to fuel impressive growth and innovation.
Neal Alexander completed the Software Accelerator program at Bounce Innovation Hub in Akron. He is currently a tech client of Bounce, where he receives support and guidance.
Tell us a little about your business.
“CyberSafely.ai has a mission to eradicate the dangers of social media to protect our youth. To this end, we’ve developed a software application using our unique mid-layer AI to monitor children's cell phone activities and identify dangerous activities that can cause the child harm. It sends alerts to parents or a designated person so they can take appropriate action. This software works anywhere 24/7.
We are in the process of implementing CyberSafely software for many schools and clubs to use with their students, employing a comprehensive rollout process that ensures proper integration and adoption of our protective technology.
Our website also provides parents with information, articles, and insights from experts to help them understand the many threats children are facing. Sextortion, bullying, online drug sales, human trafficking, and more are all using the internet to spread their ills.
We have also assisted in the development of the CyberSafely Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) that is dedicated to educating parents, school administrators, and teachers about these dangers. The Foundation, headed by Executive Director Tina Hustead, works with like-minded groups to facilitate advocacy, ensuring those who have been harmed have a forum to get their messages out and assist in saving children's lives.”
Can you share your thoughts and key takeaways about the foundation-sponsored entrepreneurship programming you have participated in?
“We have worked with Bounce almost from the beginning. They’ve provided exceptional support and valuable guidance throughout our development process. We had a great deal of interaction with Entrepreneur-In-Residence James Hilton who has helped us in many areas, most significantly in the software development side. This was and is an area I don’t have a lot of experience in, and the guidance provided by Bounce has been critical to our success.”
Please tell us about any benefits, growth, or key wins you've experienced since participating in these programs.
“Significant achievements include establishing a partnership with a software development firm that fully comprehended our mission and the challenges we aim to address. Our initial product launch to the public constituted a major milestone and was met with considerable enthusiasm. Utilizing the feedback we received, we collaborated extensively with our developers to create Version 3.0 of the software, which represents a transformative advancement in safeguarding children's lives. The anticipated launch of this version in early April has generated significant interest among educational institutions and parents alike.
To develop financial support mechanisms for schools, we established strategic partnerships with professional athletes who are committed to contributing to their home and community schools, thereby enabling us to provide CyberSafely.ai at no cost to students and parents.”
What has been the most unexpected challenge you've faced in growing your business, and how did you navigate it?
“Development of the software was by far the most challenging. Second to that is navigating the needs of schools and parents and making enhancements in the software to ensure we are addressing and fulfilling our mission.”
What are your goals for the next twelve months?
“Implement our software for over 100,000 students and expand our marketing initiatives into five additional states to further advance our mission.”
What is your vision for your business in five years?
“Our goal is to get this important application into the hands of every parent. To do this, we are working with schools to provide it to all of their students. In order to facilitate this, we are continually pursuing diverse funding avenues, including educational foundations, corporate sponsorships, federal and state grants, and philanthropic organizations, to subsidize the implementation costs for educational institutions. We are looking to expand internationally in the next two years while continually enhancing our software to meet the ever-changing habits of both children and predators.”
What is your favorite quote?
“Mine is ‘Say what you are going to do and do what you say.’
In addition, John McDonald, head of Missouri MSBA superintendent association, stated after hearing about our software: I have been approached by many groups who said they had something to save students' lives. I believe your product has the ability to actually do that’.”
What is the last book you read?
"Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, which highlights the problem our mission is dedicated to solve.”
What advice do you have for budding entrepreneurs?
“Believe in yourself and never give up. You will have to work hard, and you will be presented with many roadblocks; overcome them with ingenuity and perseverance.”
How do you define success?
“Success is not an end goal but the achievement of strategic milestones that advance our organizational mission. While protecting even a single child represents a meaningful accomplishment, our ultimate objective is to establish comprehensive safeguards that benefit thousands of children by mitigating the dangers they face in digital environments.”
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
“The mission to pivot the way children use social media and avert the dangers of social media is especially important at this point in society. One of the biggest issues for parents today is how to keep their child safe in the cyber world. CyberSafely.ai has tackled that problem and provides a solution with its alert mobile application. In order to get it into every parent’s hands, we are working to secure grants and funding to negate or at least minimize any costs involved for schools. Our Version 3.0 represents a significant technological advancement in the industry, complemented by our comprehensive, educational website.”
If you have participated in Morgan Foundation sponsored programs and are interested in being featured in the Spotlight, contact
Gina Dotson.