Birmingham tech company Airship is planning to spin off a new business this year called Equip.
The platform provides university staff and students with tools to better organize and run special post-secondary education programs, mainly for students with intellectual disabilities.
Developed in partnership with Auburn University, the Auburn University EAGLES Program and Airship, Equip aims to provide programs with tools such as documents, calendars, reporting, a student app and notifications, among others. The platform’s interface is also friendly and manageable for students.
Leaders and members of the EAGLES Program, a comprehensive transition program for students with intellectual disabilities, are working in tandem with Airship to develop the product. The company’s team includes Betty Patten as chief strategy officer, who is also the current program director of the Auburn EAGLES Program. Adam Aldrich is COO of Equip and is co-founder and president of Airship. Trent Kocurek, who is Equip’s CEO, is the co-founder and CEO of Airship.
The idea for the platform began with Kocurek and Patten discussing operational challenges.
“One of the biggest things that was recognized when (Patten) and I began to speak was there is strenuous reporting overhead when it comes to managing schedules and routines,” Kocurek said. “Most of the things that these individuals are having to do for the students are reminding them to do the things that we take for granted, (such as) charge your phone at night, brush your teeth in the morning, make your bed, etc. All of these things are helping them gain these routines to live more independently.”
Kocurek said the program was using a myriad of functions and applications that don’t interact with each other well and can even be difficult for students to use. So Equip was intentionally built for the students to be able to interact with technology in a more positive way.
The platform is in development and is slated to launch in the second quarter with a Beta period starting this quarter.
The company is planning to bring on more employees in the sales and marketing fields as well as consultants for the technology and eventually get more universities onto the platform.
Current goals are to be a part of Alabama Launchpad and to start consulting with students and their families as they look to move into post-secondary programs and then into the workforce and independent living.
