unithrifts

"unithrifts" is creating a model of circular economy on college campuses through a gamified peer-to-peer platform which allows students/alumni to buy/sell secondhand collegiate gear and track their environmental impact.

Every year 19.9 million students will attend colleges and universities across the United States. Buying college gear is a popular way for students to represent their school community and exhibit their school spirit. However, students simply hoping to sport their school’s name are being deterred from purchasing such items due to their high cost (ex. $50 sweater). In pricing these products so high, universities are excluding lower-income students who cannot afford to purchase these items, while catering towards those who can.

As a low income student who would dread walking into my campus bookstore because I couldn't afford anything, I've experienced first hand the problem we're solving . My lived experiences have instilled a passion in me to be a voice for all the students who find themselves unattached from their college communities because they lack the financial resources or access to quality resources. Our user testimonials have shown how important what we're working on is, especially in the lives of first generation and low income students, who are sometimes even struggling to simply pay tuition and other college related expenses, For these students, pursuing a higher education is not only a huge milestone for them but for their families as well. Being able to afford this college gear goes beyond wearing a hoodie with three letters embroidered on them. It showcases the struggles their ancestors went through to get them to where they are today and leave a lasting legacy. "unithrifts" is not only leaving a positive "footprint" on the world because of our environmentally friendly efforts but is also changing the face of students around the nation.

A gamified sustainability/community first collegiate platform for the reselling of college gear. We believe the future of consumption is circular...and it starts at the collegiate level. "unithrifts" is a gamified peer-to-peer platform for students/alumni to buy/sell secondhand collegiate gear and track their environmental impact. Ranging from game day gear to Greek life swag from students on their way out of college, we are creating a model of circular consumption on college campuses through gamification.

As a low income student who would dread walking into my campus bookstore because I couldn't afford anything, I've experienced first hand the problem we're solving . My lived experiences have instilled a passion in me to be a voice for all the students who find themselves unattached from their college communities because they lack the financial resources or access to quality resources. Our user testimonials have shown how important what we're working on is, especially in the lives of first generation and low income students, who are sometimes even struggling to simply pay tuition and other college related expenses, For these students, pursuing a higher education is not only a huge milestone for them but for their families as well. Being able to afford this college gear goes beyond wearing a hoodie with three letters embroidered on them. It showcases the struggles their ancestors went through to get them to where they are today and leave a lasting legacy. "unithrifts" is not only leaving a positive "footprint" on the world because of our environmentally friendly efforts but is also changing the face of students around the nation.

Patricia Garcia is a graduating student (December 2022) at the University of Southern California (USC) pursuing a Master’s in Product Development Engineering as a GEM Full Fellow where she combines her interests in engineering, business, and design. Prior to venturing into the world of entrepreneurship, she worked on various hardware and software projects at institutions/organizations across the US including at MIT and UC Berkeley.

With a lack of a formal business education, Patricia has actively taken advantage of the vast entrepreneurial resources available to her as student. From taking courses at the USC Marshall School of Business to completing multiple accelerator programs, she has positioned herself for success.

From creating an MVP with over 5,000 followers from across nation (representing HBCU’s and HSI’s) to now developing an iOS/Android app to scale our nationwide reach, she has been able to home in on her technical skills to create value for users by using systems thinking and human-centered design principles. Through this entire process, she has been able to translate technical success into market success by understanding the users which has amounted to over 25 national pitch competitions wins, over $70,000 in non-equity funding, and features in various media publications such as NASDAQ and the Dayton Business Journal.

Being an entrepreneurial engineer has allowed her to be more strategic in projects that she undertakes and has ultimately made her a more well- rounded individual.

Our target market consists of high school seniors, college students, college alumni, and in the future, university alumni associations, which amounts to variety of potential users and partners. This market was validated via an Instagram prototype with the intent of understanding if there was an interest in this market by selling the college gear I collected over the years (this included items from various institutions across the nation). In under 11 months, we generated over $2500 in sales, accrued over thousands of followers, and rerouted over 1000 pounds of waste from landfills. After establishing the followers, we surveyed the users which resulted in over 1000 responses from students at over 200 institutions across the nation- including Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). We were able to identify the target group as well as preliminary data for the app development.

We’re not on the mission to be another resale app. Our platform has a social impact aspect that many other resale platforms are lacking.  We are directly addressing 4 UN SDGs which include Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, Goal 13: Climate Action, and Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. We are gamifying what it means to be a  socially responsible consumer brand. Users on our platform are able to track their individual carbon footprint and that of their university campuses as a whole (which is then rewarded in the form of a scholarship to the campuses that have the highest reduction in carbon footprint).

We hope to have a huge presence on college campuses such that the college bookstores become second to our product. We believe the future of commerce is sustainable and we're paving the way for it. We plan to gain control of the market by meeting the growing demands of our customers. As we grow, we plan to expand our platform by introducing additional features which have been highly requested. These features include the ability to sell Greek life gear, dorm décor, and school essentials while also incorporating technology to support this growth. We also plan to further partnerships with organizations focused on getting students into college and retaining such as the Better Make Room initiative which is Michelle Obama’s college access campaign for Gen Z. In terms of expanding our sustainability footprint, we hope to run campaigns supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nations.

We are a iOS/Android application that is currently serving individuals in the US. 

iOS:  (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/unithrifts/id1602213785). 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/...

Since launching in April, we have onboarded over 800 users from around the U.S. and have been working on moving the inventory from our Instagram MVP (https://www.instagram.com/unithrifts) into the app.

Our solution currently serves over 900 individuals at schools across the US. In the next year, we hope to double this to 1800 as we expand to schools across the US. Long term, the goal is to expand internationally. 

We have anticipating running out of significant capital in the upcoming year. We outsourced the development of our platform and our struggling to pay the maintenance fees as well as the fees associated with renewing our iOS/Android developer accounts. In order to elevate our platform, we need invest in marketing which also comes with significant costs. In anticipation of our full fledge launch on iOS and Android platforms (we are finalizing our beta), we would need to initiate a marketing budget in order to raise awareness about our platform. We are currently on a tight budget after using most of our funds towards app development and need a social media/marketing person to elevate what we've worked so hard to build. 

We do not currently partner with any organizations but would like to initiate partnerships with organizations focused on getting students into college and retaining such as the Better Make Room initiative which is Michelle Obama’s college access campaign for Gen Z. In terms of expanding our sustainability footprint, we hope to run campaigns supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nations.

My entrepreneurial interests lie in the development of circular business models through a technological lens with the intention of creating economic and social value. I have explored this area with my for-profit venture which has ultimately equipped me with the field specific background to undertake this program. In under 2 years, been able to exemplify that profit and propose are not mutually exclusive.

We operate as a commission-based business in the form of a peer-to-peer marketplace in which we take 20% of every sale via in-app sales.

unithrifts today is an 25x award winning iOS/Android platform enabling circular consumption across college campuses in the US which in a short time has raised over $80,000 USD in non-dilutive capital, and ultimately demonstrated the drive of an underrepresented 23-year-old founder with a vision. Long term, I hope I raise venture capital while also leveraging pitch competitions which we have excelled at.