Strand is a private, encrypted messaging app with a safety layer built into every conversation. It already flags self-harm risk, alerts emergency contacts, and gives people a way out of unsafe situations. The next phase introduces proximity relaying and SOS tapping, turning local devices into a resilient offline fallback network when cell towers or internet drop. Built first for disaster response—and just as critical for personal safety anywhere connection is compromised.
The Philippines sees around 20 typhoons a year. Cell towers and internet are usually the first thing to fail, right when people most need to reach each other.
Most personal safety features rely on the same signal that just went out. If there's no signal, there's no alert.
Someone in an unsafe home or relationship may not be able to make a loud, visible call for help. A quiet, low-signature way to signal distress can matter more than a loud one.
Strand is built for close relationships (a couple, a family, or a small trusted squad), not broad social networking. Every space has its own privacy rules, and the moderation and safety systems run underneath every conversation, automatically.
Most of this raise goes straight into scaling development, security auditing, and expanding the core technical team. Founder effort already invested into Strand (420+ execution hours to date) is excluded from this ask.
| Use of funds | Amount (PHP) |
|---|---|
| Development team, 12 months (lead developer plus technical engineering support) | 1,950,000 |
| Bookkeeper / Operations, part-time then full-time | 810,000 |
| Tech subscriptions, 12 months (Firebase, LiveKit, Cloudflare) | 480,000 |
| Equipment: devices for the founder, developers, and operations | 545,400 |
| Office space, 12 months (small shared workspace for the team) | 180,000 |
| Statutory contributions and HMO for the team, tax compliance | 260,000 |
| Legal fees, cryptographic audits, proximity relay field testing, pre-launch marketing | 390,000 |
| App store accounts and contingency | 384,600 |
| Total | ₱5,000,000 |
I'm Kwenee, founder and product architect at Antas Labs. Leveraging modern AI-assisted engineering workflows, I rapidly prototyped and deployed Strand from initial concept to a functional Phase 1 architecture in under 450 hours.
My focus is building resilient, high-impact software. With Phase 1 proven and operational, this raise allows us to onboard dedicated senior engineering leads, conduct rigorous security and cryptographic audits, and scale Strand's offline mesh infrastructure.
— Kwenee, Founder & Product Lead, Antas Labs