Langston Whitlock is an 18-year-old Atlanta-native, Georgia State University freshman, longtime coder, drummer, son, and brother. Also, he is cofounder and chief information officer (CIO) of the multi-million dollar company, SafeTrip, which provides ridesharing services for the homeless and elderly in the Atlanta, Georgia area who are in need of reliable transportation to medical appointments and wheelchair compatibility. It all started when Whitlock and Ja’Nese Jean, opera singer, social entrepreneur, philanthropist, and now SafetTrip’s CEO, who had been friendly colleagues in Atlanta for several years, were attending a local event and discovered the problem they would soon solve with SafeTrip. As they were at the community outreach event, Whitlock told Jean that he had heard from a local homeless veteran that many people in the area were unable to make it to important medical appointments due to lack of transportation. Jean replied by asking “Can you make an app for that?”
Whitlock learned how to write code as a young 12-year-old when he created an anonymous messaging app to try and contact his father; at 16 he became the youngest person to be recognized by Forbes Enterprise Technology judges and CIO for the company, meaning he oversees the development team and helps implement sourcing data and new technologies, such as users being able to pay for rides by debit, credit, or insurance. Though everyone else who works for the company is older than him, he says this is no issue at all and it works well; if anything, he says, “They love me cause I’m a kid, I guess.” Additionally, his perspective as a young person has proven valuable: SafeTrip recruits new high school graduates to be drivers for the company in order to further community-connectedness and to help teens who may not have a clear path ahead of them; also, these kids have just recently learned things like defensive driving and CPR at school, so these skills are fresh in their minds.
The app itself launched in 2018 and in 2019 made $3.4 million in revenue; also, it currently has $2 million in funding. Their motivation, besides wanting to better their community and help those in need, is also rooted in that the Atlanta-based company wants to show that the Atlanta technology scene is just as impressive and valuable as Silicon Valley. Additionally, Whitlock is personally committed to providing for his mother and bringing her all the happiness in the world, as a way of repaying her for the work she has put in throughout his life.
Overall, Langston Whitlock is a great example of a young entrepreneur in the 21st century. He and his cofounder saw a problem in their community and, using their existing skillsets and resources as active community members, and building on the typical idea of ridesharing went out and solved a real problem for the greater good.