Two Houston-based entrepreneurs recently launched a platform to help college students grow and monetize their side hustles.
Madison Long and Simone May are the co-founders behind Campus Concierge, a platform that aims to connect two groups of students on college campuses: students in the gig economy with side hustles to offer and price-conscious students shopping for affordable services. College students with side gigs in areas like photography, hair styling, graphic design, dog walking, cleaning and more can use the app to connect with their on-campus community, book appointments and secure payments.
Campus Concierge was one of 10 early-stage companies selected to Austin-based startup accelerator DivInc's inaugural Houston program this spring. Now, the company is launching its platform on university campuses and preparing to close a pre-seed funding raise.
"Part of our discovery through the DivInc program was to say, 'What is the best way to go to market and service students where they need help the most?'" Long said. "It was through creating opportunities for them to have flexible jobs, make money on their own terms and have the accessibility of an on-demand experience that Gen Z's and students alike are so used to now."
Last weekend, Campus Concierge debuted its platform on the campus of Texas Southern University, one of the nation's largest historically black college and universities. The launch at TSU will be followed by Prairie View A&M University and Rice University, Long said. All three schools are in the Houston area.
May, Campus Concierge's CTO, said the company is differentiating itself from other similar players in the side hustle space in a few different ways. Users need an active student email in order to be validated onto the platform, a way of de-risking adoption for students and schools.
Campus Concierge also aims to be a "social-first platform," allowing users to discover and communicate with other likeminded students on campus, May said. She recalled from her time as a freshman at Purdue University that it can be intimidating to reach out to others on campus, and the Covid-19 pandemic certainly hasn't made that any easier.
"People are wanting to build a community again, and having a way to do that through our platform is something that I think makes us really special," May said.
In addition to graduating from the DivInc spring 2021 cohort and beginning its rollout onto college campuses, Campus Concierge is in the midst of a pre-seed fundraising effort. The startup aims to close its pre-seed round within the next month or so, Long said.
Campus Concierge is largely a virtual company. May and Long are based in the company's Houston headquarters, and Campus Concierge has other team members and contractors in California, Indiana and Europe.
