Australia’s first ‘female only’ ride-sharing platform Shebah

Australian entrepreneur and single mother of four, Georgina (George) McEncroe, is deeply passionate about the safety of women and children which led her to launch the all-female ride-sharing service Shebah.

George began her career in media and comedy in her thirties, and was nominated for best newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and hosted the breakfast show on commercial radio for five years. However, George is most proud of her business venture Shebah, and over the past twelve months has regularly spoken at parliamentary enquiries and met with various transport ministers to plead for a safe, legal rideshare service built from the female lens.

Created by women for women, Shebah is an innovative Australian business driving change across the country by providing a safe and secure mode of transport for women and children.

George says she founded Shebah for two reasons: she wanted to keep women and children safe, and she wanted to give women like herself – mums with multiple obligations – a safe way to share in the advantages offered by the rideshare industry.

Shebah is Australia’s only rideshare service where all the drivers are women and with 85% of revenue being paid directly to drivers, Shebah offers women drivers an alternative to Uber, which only pays their drivers 73.5%. Furthermore, all new drivers receive a free half-hour phone consultation about financial planning to support them building financial independence.

After a successful launch in Melbourne in 2017, Shebah is now available nationally. More than a rideshare service, Shebah is helping women to flourish in both their personal and professional lives. Shebah has been instrumental in encouraging women to re-enter the workforce by not only providing employment opportunities, but also the less obvious benefit of allowing mums to stay at work or other obligations and use Shebah as a safe mode of transportation for their kids.

Shebah has created what has been dubbed ‘front seat freedom’, meaning passengers feel safe to travel in the front seat alone at any time of the day.

What sets Shebah apart is its diverse community of users. Shebah’s drivers and riders include women all of ages – they are students, suburban mums, retired professionals, transgender women, women with disabilities and women who choose not to travel with men for cultural reasons. Women can ride with their children and babies, as well as their pets!

Children can travel unaccompanied by an adult (when pre-booked by parents) knowing that their children are safe because Shebah requires all it’s drivers to have a ‘working with children check’ – this is the only ride-sharing service that requires this.

For more information visit the website: shebah.com.au