WisBusiness: The Podcast with Barbara Hastie, founder and CEO of PoWER

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” features a conversation with Barbara Hastie, founder and CEO of PoWER, a startup that aims to provide security certification for ride-sharing apps.

She’s joined by Paul Jones, a lawyer with Michael Best & Friedrich who specializes in startups, venture investment, business development and other related topics. As an experienced entrepreneur himself, he’s acting as a mentor to Hastie as she works toward launching her early-stage business.

The company’s name stands for Protecting Women Every Ride.

“PoWER is a rideshare enhancement app and also a certification service that connects female passengers with PoWER-certified drivers for a more safe and secure ride,” Hastie said. “We also have elements that have pre-ride safety features and in-ride features as well.”

Hastie says she and Jones are meeting soon with directors of TitletownTech in Green Bay, an effort between the Green Bay Packers and Microsoft to invest in and develop early-stage tech startups.

“It will be a busy spring, but hopefully be productive and lead to a full launch very soon,” Hastie said.