When John Akinboyewa studied on the Colorado College of Mines for his engineering levels, he recalled digging within the sofa for change to afford a 99-cent meal at Taco Bell or McDonald’s — coming to $1.08 with tax.
“I do not forget that quantity so vividly,” he mentioned. His very subsequent thought: “There may be pizza or a sandwich or cookies someplace on this campus that’s fastly approaching the trash can.”
That faculty expertise sparked the thought for a brand new app referred to as Hungree. And within the final yr, Akinboyewa, a 39-year-old Denver resident, and his three crew members have introduced his imaginative and prescient to life.
The free app follows a primary premise: A person in a small geographic space who needs to eliminate a meals merchandise can submit it for an additional person to request after which choose up. Eating places, meals banks and different sizable suppliers can join with people, and neighbors can hyperlink with neighbors.
Customers can share both with the general public or solely inside their very own “villages,” that are restricted to particular teams like non secular organizations or owners associations.
The app can be utilized to rearrange very small-scale and intensely large-scale meals distribution, Akinboyewa added. If an workplace staffer has 25 leftover sandwiches after an occasion, then that person can submit the meals gadgets of their village and alert others to the excess.
However to work successfully, the app wants a steadiness of each suppliers and customers.
He’s developed the app to guard person privateness, maintain observe of meals donations, keep away from traces at meals pickups and extra. In its beta section, the app granted entry to 500 invite-only customers throughout six cities in 4 international locations — the U.S., Nigeria, Colombia and the UK — earlier than increasing to almost 1,000 customers, Akinboyewa mentioned.
Quickly, his crew plans to allow tens of 1000’s of customers by a number of college, group and enterprise partnerships, he mentioned.
The app is offered now on Apple’s App Retailer and the Google Play Retailer, utilizing an invitation code: HUNGREE500.
For Akinboyewa, who was born in Nigeria and resided in London earlier than immigrating to the U.S., the Hungree app is a solution to struggle starvation and curb meals waste. Within the locations he’s lived, he’s seen the battle of meals insecurity.
Now, he’s watching his technique work in actual time. A neighborhood steakhouse supervisor listed leftover meals on the app — three servings of steak and greens — and one other person picked them as much as hand out to folks experiencing homelessness, Akinboyewa mentioned.
“I really like fixing issues,” mentioned Akinboyewa, who has a background as a advisor within the oil and gasoline business. “Generally, the straightforward answer is definitely what works.”
To take his app to the following stage, Akinboyewa hopes to garner institutional and organizational help. He’s mentioned the thought with leaders on the College of Colorado Boulder who’re in command of off-campus housing, which may end in 1000’s of scholars accessing the app.
Akinboyewa needs to attach with native companies and have them on the app, too. He’s in search of monetary backing that lets him roll it out on a bigger scale.
Hungree’s nonprofit standing was accredited by the state on Monday. However the group’s expertise department is for-profit, with plans to generate income by buyers and a enterprise mannequin that can ultimately let customers pay for enhanced options, Akinboyewa mentioned.
“I’ll be honest about one thing: Being Black in tech, you’re not related to the suitable communities to assist get the funding,” he mentioned.
Nonetheless, he’s seeing progress globally. And within the subsequent few weeks, a significant replace will carry multilingual help to the app, increasing past English so as to add Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian and Turkish.
Akinboyewa’s hope: “In 5 to seven years, we wish half a billion folks on there,” he mentioned. “There are large goals to this.”
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