by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 10:40 AM ET, Tue March 16, 2021
Texas recently reopened the state at 100% capacity, with no masks required. However, people across the world are still worried about gathering together in an almost post-COVID world.
That's why Houston-based software and hospitality entrepreneur Carson Hager and his team created SafeFun, a free app that allows users to voluntarily share COVID-19 test results and vaccine records with everyone in their designated social network.
SafeFun is free to download and use. Users can register with a password before uploading test or vaccine information. SafeFun then validates users' uploaded information and adds it to their SafeFun Passport. The app is also compliant across international borders.
Carson Hager, the entrepreneur behind the app, was uniquely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The founder of Cynergy Systems back in 1996, he later sold the company and opened three bars in Houston, which became difficult to keep running throughout the pandemic's unpredictability.
"We originally created SafeFun to help people get comfortable going out again. Our thinking was that if people knew everyone in a space had a recent, verifiable, negative test or vaccination, they would be more comfortable going out to eat, going to a bar, going to the gym, going on dates, etc." said Carson Hager. "Being in the nightlife business, giving people additional comfort backed by science could mean life or death for us and others in our industry. We felt we had no choice but to build it so we literally worked around the clock for months to make it happen. When people started to use it, the feedback we got most often was that they also wanted to use it with friends and family so we added the ability to share your status with people you know. That's how we got to where we are today."
The platform allows users to request friends from their contacts or social media networks so they can determine based on vaccine and COVID-19 test results who they feel comfortable socializing with.
"Imagine returning to a time when a couple can plan on inviting all - and not just a handful - of their family and friends to their wedding and feeling confident enough to book a honeymoon with non-refundable reservations," Hager said. "That's the kind of hope we're trying to instill."
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