DCU SPIN-OUT KOWROO BUILDING AI-POWERED SAFETY INSIGHTS FOR CORPORATE TRAVEL
World’s first dynamic, contextual safety map to address millions lost in travel-related incidents
June 09 2025: Dublin City University’s Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics has announced its latest spin-out, Kowroo – an intelligent travel safety platform transforming the way organisations support their workforce on the move. With travel-related uncertainty rising, Kowroo bridges the gap between feeling safe and being safe using cutting-edge AI.
Developed with the support of Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund, Kowroo is the first platform to offer dynamic, real-time and personalised safety assessments and insights tailored to each traveller’s profile, location and local context. Unlike traditional reactive models, Kowroo enables organisations to support and protect employees in transit, providing a digital security advisor in every traveller’s pocket.
‘Based on our industry analyses Fortune 500 companies lose up to €3.55 million annually due to travel-related incidents,’ says Dr Sheelagh Brady, co-founder and CEO of Kowroo. ‘Kowroo helps mitigate these risks through features including SOS alerting, Follow Me Home, in-app chat, dynamic personalised risk assessments and residual risk tracking — all accessible via intuitive user and admin interfaces.
‘We want to provide intelligent, contextual safety tools that empower people and the companies responsible for them. Generic guidance fails to reflect the complexity of modern travel. Kowroo offers smarter, more personalised decision-making — wherever employees go.’
Live beta trials are already underway, with early feedback showing strong validation: 85 per cent of users report that Kowroo fills critical gaps left by existing Travel Risk Management (TRM) solutions. The company is now focused on developing design partnerships and from there converting early adopters to paid contracts, while enhancing its AI engine.
With its core technology built, and in spinning out of DCU, Kowroo is preparing for the next phase of growth. The company is initially targeting the €30m Irish enterprise market before scaling into the US and EMEA travel risk management sectors, with an initial focus on Fortune 500 companies, universities and international NGOs.
Kowroo also sees long-term potential in the €100bn global safety and navigation data space, with future revenue streams including data licensing, family safety applications and smart city integrations.
By capturing both verified incidents and real-time perception-based insights, Kowroo is building the dataset to inform world’s first dynamic, contextual safety map, a foundational layer for safer, more informed travel and risk decision-making worldwide. Think Waze for security.
For further information, interviews, or demo requests, please contact:
Louise Holden, FH Media Consulting Ltd
00353 872423985
NOTES FOR EDITORS
The Insight Research Centre for Data Analytics is one of Europe’s largest data analytics research organisations, with over 450 researchers, more than 80 industry partners and €150+ million in funding. Its research spans Fundamentals of Data Science, Sensing and Actuation, Scaling Algorithms, Model Building, Multi-Modal Analysis, Data Engineering and Governance, Decision Making and Trustworthy AI. Insight is made up of four host institutions at DCU, University of Galway, UCC and UCD. Insight’s partner sites are Maynooth University, Tyndall, TCD and UL. www.insight-centre.org
Dr Sheelagh Brady – Co-Founder of Kowroo
Dr Sheelagh Brady is a globally recognised security analyst with over 25 years of experience in policing, intelligence and high-risk environments. She is the co-Founder and commercial lead of Kowroo, an AI-driven platform transforming travel risk management through personalised, real-time insights.
Her expertise stems from 14 years with An Garda Síochána (Irish Police), where she led complex investigations, surveillance and evidence operations. She then served as a senior security analyst with the EU and UN across Bosnia Herzegovina, Libya, and Nigeria, specialising in organised crime, terrorism, radicalisation and rule of law.
For five years, she was Chief Security Analyst at SAR Consultancy, advising governments, NGOs and multinational businesses. Academically, Sheelagh bridges theory and practice.
She holds a PhD from Dublin City University on the visual persuasion and recruitment strategies of violence organisations, and two master’s degrees; one from John Jay College of Criminal Justice (New York) and the other from University College London. She is a published author and regular contributor to EU policy forums, NATO’s Centre of Excellence and international conferences.
Sheelagh co-founded the Irish Security Series, a practitioner-led initiative bridging academia and frontline operations. Today, her mission is to shift the narrative from restriction to resilience— empowering organisations through smart, scalable technological solutions. Her work is informed by a deep belief: security is not just about managing threats but enabling opportunity.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheelaghbrady