UnStuck, an app concept applying rideshare principles to winter Good Samaritanism, took second place at Techstars’ annual Startup Weekend in Fargo in April.
Nolan Borchardt, an NDSU junior and member of UnStuck’s team, will present at 1 Million Cups Fargo on Wednesday, April 29.
“The idea is—it’s an app that operates a lot like Uber,” Borchardt said, but in this case the product is specifically geared toward getting oneself help when trouble arises in winter. If you get stuck in the snow, for example you send an SOS message through the UnStuck app with a description of the situation, and other app users in the area who are able to help in some way can pick up the case and provide assistance. This assistance can take the form of simple shoveling, or it can be more than that if the situation calls for it and a user with special equipment is available.
UnStuck helps keep the level of help appropriate to the situation, whereas without the app it’s sometimes possible you’ll get more assistance than you really need.
“You’ll get stuck in, like, a parking lot,” Borchardt said, “and you’ll have to call a tow truck to get pulled five feet.”
Users who respond to requests for assistance via UnStuck might be able to offer varying levels of help—some might only be able to help shovel or push a car, while others might have a winch or other useful item.
This being the case, the UnStuck team intends for prices for the services of app users to vary based on what they do to help. The planned scheme would be free or tip-based for shoveling and a base cost of $25 for use of a winch. UnStuck’s planned cut is 15%.
The UnStuck team took second place during Startup Weekend, at which participants pitch startup ideas and then form teams behind the most viable concepts, which are then pitched for the judges.
Borchardt said they would like to release the app to the public by next November. Since winter is (hopefully?) over, the team has the warm months to work on the idea.
“We’d all love to dedicate a lot of time to it,” Borchardt said.
Most of the UnStuck team members involved are college juniors, so their focus is necessarily on schooling right now. In addition to Borchardt, the team includes Cody Elhard, Trevor Schmidt, Isaac Flynn, John Schneider, and Chris Dieumerci, who initially pitched the app idea.
Borchardt is grateful for the experience Startup Weekend offered him.
“I’d had poor experience with team in the past,” Borchardt said. “It taught me that if you get the right group together, you can get a lot done.”
1 Million Cups Fargo takes place each Wednesday from 9:15-10:15 a.m. at The Stage at Island Park. For more information on Startup Weekend, visit communities.techstars.com/usa/fargo/startup-weekend/14251.
