The ability to balance a full-time class schedule, a social life and the opportunity for supplemental income was a challenge that piqued the interest of four Northwestern students, ultimately culminating in the development of the Polo app.
“We’re trying to build something that allows Northwestern students to monetize either their stuff or their skills, in whatever free time they have,” Weinberg senior and co-founder Mo Moritz said.
Moritz and his co-founders: McCormick senior Nico Garcia-Ippolito, Weinberg senior Coby Grant-Krenz and McCormick junior Andy Vu said they wanted to build an app where people on campus could come together to buy and sell goods and services.
Grant-Krenz said the team started out two years ago through the EPIC launch program via The Garage, and originally wanted to operate under the name “uHustle,” only to find out a separate company already used a similar name.
“It was kind of demoralizing,” Grant-Krenz said. “But it was also encouraging because they only offered services and a website, and we weren’t really impressed.”
The team said the app is unique because it provides a marketplace for both goods and services, not just one or the other.
Already, TVs, furniture, clothes and other goods are for sale. As for services, investment advice, cooking classes, tutoring sessions and an option to “use my car” are available for various prices. Moritz himself offered a “personal chef” service for $15.
“I’d say a mix of what we’re trying to do is Facebook Marketplace and Taskrabbit, only localized (to) college students,” Moritz said.
By localizing the app to solely NU students, it’s easier to verify that there’s another student on the other end of the transaction, according to Garcia-Ippolito.
Garcia-Ippolito said that even though you can customize the distance settings on Facebook Marketplace, there is still room for dishonest behavior in transactions.
“Even though you could localize (Facebook Marketplace) within 5 miles or 10 miles, it’s sometimes kind of sketchy,” Garcia-Ippolito said.
Morowitz said for the future, they’re hoping to add a ‘jobs’ page where users can post miscellaneous tasks they need completed. This way, hustlers who don’t have a specialized skill can still earn money and benefit the community.
Polo, which comes from the Greek word for ‘sell,’ launched last Tuesday and is available to all NU students when they log in with their school email.
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— NU student startup HaptE recognized on Chicago Inno “Under 25” list
— Student startup MetaFrazo uses AI to break down language barriers
— Campus startup Linked Up aims to play cupid for class crushes
