Student Entrepreneurs Want to Up Your Street Cred
Posted: May 03, 2018 | Author: Miles Anderson | Read Time: 2 minutes
When Southern Utah University student Adam Peterson told Dakota Denver his idea for an app called Street Credit, Denver knew he was on to something. Denver encouraged Peterson to submit his idea to the 90-second pitch contest hosted by the Entrepreneurship club and was blown away by his pitch. He decided to fully get on board with Street Credit and start helping with the business side of the process.
“Street Credit is an app that facilitates rent payments between tenants and landlords,” said Denver. “After tenants have signed up and connected their bank account information, we will create a check for the rent amount and send it to the landlord before their rent is due. We then report that successful payment to the three leading credit agencies.”
The app allows users to improve their credit score by guaranteeing on-time payments and having the added benefit of their successful payments being reported directly to credit agencies. Peterson, a junior computer science major, and Denver, a junior accounting major, make an ideal team for a technology-based business venture.
Development of the app itself has certainly not been without its challenges.
“There are a lot of requirements to report credit that are difficult to get over,” said Denver. “Actually building the app has been difficult because it requires a lot of security and data storage. We have struggled finding a channel to license this app. We would like to offer the service to students for free and to do that we need a strategic partner that will be able to make that happen, like a bank or credit union.”
Events and resources provided by the Entrepreneurship Program and club have played a huge role in the development of the business as it provided platforms like the 90-second pitch contest for the idea to gain traction and provides resources to help along the way. Since the contest, Peterson and Denver have received some crucial help from mentors Rich Christiansen and Roger Seegmiller, members of the Entrepreneurship Leadership Council. They also note the contributions of Professor Tyler Stillman who put on the event that has gotten them to where they are now.
Peterson and Denver are planning a pre-launch of the app in the middle of May and hope to have it fully up and running in a couple of months.
The Entrepreneurship Program at SUU promotes transformative educational experiences and financial well-being through new venture creation. The program connects students with business mentors, hosts monthly networking events, and provides necessary support and counseling services in finance, partner facilitation, marketing, legal and human resources. Students of all majors interested in starting a business can join the Entrepreneurship Club or contact Tyler Stillman at tylerstillman@suu.edu.
This article was published more than 5 years ago and might contain outdated information or broken links. As a result, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Tags: Entrepreneurship Blog School of Business
