The University of Tampa is looking to go beyond the orientation groups and clubs and is using a Tampa startup to help connect its freshman class in a new way.
Krew Social, which offers a decentralized way to build your “crew,” has contracted with the university’s wellness department and will be offered to all 2,500 students in its incoming freshman class.
“The school sees it as a way to increase engagement since the pandemic, which schools have been deeply affected by,” said Mike Chahinian, Krew Social’s founder and CEO. “It’s bringing them back to get them socially healthy by building healthy relationships.”
The platform can be described as a mashup between Meetup, Facebook groups and social media apps like Bumble BFF. Users create a profile, specify their interests and can use the map function to see nearby hangouts or create their own.
“This is a much more intentional way of doing things and building a custom circle of friends for any activity,” Chahinian said.
He initially met University of Tampa officials through the Tampa Bay Wave, who passed him on to the school’s wellness department.
“As a growing institution, it is important for us to be able to provide initiatives to students that allow them to connect with others in ways that provide deep and meaningful relationships as social wellness is key to their success at UT,” Addie Carothers, University of Tampa’s director of wellness, said in an email to Tampa Bay Inno. “We are hopeful that Krew Social will be another tool that will help them develop a sense of belonging with their UT peers.”
The company came to fruition in 2021 but has been an idea Chahinian has had since 2015. During that time, he left the Navy and went to work in New York City to attend business school at New York University. With that came the culture shock of a lack of community.
“You go from being on a ship that’s 300 people, who you’re with for eight months at a time, and can’t escape community,” he said. “And then moving to New York City, that was the total 180 shift; it’s a huge city but no community. And I was struck at the time how little tech there was for making friends.”
He let the idea simmer as he went to work for Citi as an investment banker, but when the pandemic struck, and people were looking to expand their circles again, Chahinian decided to take the leap with Krew.
“People started to realize the health aspects of being social and of isolation, and I thought if there’s any time this is going to work well, it’s after the pandemic,” he said. “And then I thought no one has come up with anything like this over the last five years; I’m not going to wait another five years. I’m just going to do it and see what happens.”
The company is entirely bootstrapped, and Chahinian is the sole full-time employee with a fleet of contractors. It is a member of both Embarc Collective and Tampa Bay Wave.
He plans to expand the platform beyond higher education, eyeing apartment complexes, large workplaces like Citi or Raymond James and organizations like churches or sports stadiums.
“Every sector we looked into has an ROI,” he said. “This is like the Swiss Army knife of social apps.”
