Why Auraste
It started
with a walk.
On an evening walk, Auraste co-founders Michael and Sarah passed over a dozen women heading to yoga, each carrying just a mat and a bottle. As Sarah clenched Michael's arm, she said plainly, I'd never feel safe walking alone here. Michael, half jokingly replied, What if the bottle had safety built in? Sarah stopped. On that night, Auraste began.
We didn't set out to build a safety product. We set out to give her one less thing to carry.
What we learned
It was never a small problem.
Just a quiet one.
The more women we listened to, the clearer it became. The longer route home. The keys held a certain way. The text sent the second she's inside. Almost every woman already carries it, quietly, every day. We weren't inventing a need. We were answering one.
60%
of women avoid going to certain places they might otherwise want to go.
Gallup, 2021
71%
want protection invisible, or hidden in something they already carry.
LogicMark, 2025
69%
of women who haven't traveled solo say safety is what holds them back.
Solo Female Travelers Club, 2026
Beautiful first. Safe underneath.
What we're making
So we're building
it in.
Auraste makes women safer without ever making them feel like they're in danger, by building protection invisibly into the things they already love to carry. HydraHalo, a beautiful stainless steel bottle with a discreet response system inside, is the first. We're building it right now, in the open, for a 2027 launch.
What's next
We're building this
with women.
Not just for them. If you have two minutes, tell us how you actually live and what you'd want. Your perspective will shape what we make.