Lukas Minkov and Logan Schouman are turning their idea for an online, hyperspeed convenience store geared to college students into an AI-powered app for retailers and logistics companies.
Schouman, 23, started Afters.io in 2019, partly to satisfy a graduation requirement for entrepreneurship majors at Kent State University.
"I just thought of it as a big warehouse that delivered all these goods, but super fast and efficiently," Schouman said.
Editor’s note: This story is part of Cleveland Inno’s Under 25 program, a platform to recognize rising innovators under the age of 25 who are making big moves with their companies across Northeast Ohio.
Minkov, 24, a business management major and economics minor at the university, joined Schouman, and the two developed Afters.io — named for the after parties that often take place after the bars close in college towns.
The two pitched their business idea during the university's 2021 CebiPitch competition, where they were named finalists.
But since graduating last year, Schouman and Minkov have significantly broadened their business plans.
Now, while making late-night deliveries of 3 Musketeers candy bars and 5-hour Energy drinks, they seek intelligence from consumers, Schouman said.
The goal is to understand what environmental factors — from pandemic shutdowns to ice storms — drive people to order deliveries of convenience goods.
Afters.io is using this information to create a model that minimizes the costs of warehousing perishables as well as making substitutions when products are out of stock, Minkov said.
"For example, I am confident that when Covid happened and the supply chain was absolutely demolished, we could have at least helped businesses preorder accurate stock levels," he said.
Once Afters.io raises enough money, Minkov plans to build out their app with artificial intelligence and machine learning components that will "help us to automatically reorder and restock at the quantities desired," Minkov said.
"I can see a partnership on the logistics side with companies like Amazon," he said. "And on the software side of things, I think Amazon, DoorDash, Uber Eats would be good partners."
