Spontivly - Know what's happening, wherever you are.

Social isolation and loneliness is on the rise yet solutions that are accessible and affordable are difficult to find. Leveraging technology as a means to mitigate isolation and loneliness is an untapped opportunity. Spontivly could refine what integrated communities look like around the world with metrics on user engagement to build better communities which put the social well-being of citizens at the core of planning. Spontivly has the potential to drive change that could reserve the epidemic of loneliness by creating and connecting citizens to experiences happening in real time.

Humans are social beings who rely on strong and meaningful connections in order to live a good quality of life, yet there is an increasing trend of loneliness and social isolation, particularly among millennials - the fastest growing generation. Loneliness has health consequences ranging between mental and physical health, sometimes both. The Mental Health Commission of Canada estimated 1.2 million children and youth in Canada are affected by mental illness. In North America, the population of millennials makes up 100M+. Studies show contributing factors related to lack of community and opportunity to have meaningful relationships. This growing trend is having an alarming impact on the mental health of young people across the world. The social well-being of citizens is crucial for communities to thrive yet millennials are feeling disconnected and isolated.

Spontivly’s target market are millennials specifically in the post secondary, tourism and local community sector. We have completed multiple quantitative and qualitative market research methods (focus group, surveys, interviews, questionnaire) for purpose of data collection and thoroughly understanding our market. We have completed this from the beginning of project inception and continue to focus on understanding our customer needs thoroughly. 

Spontivly aims to integrate people into communities, help solve loneliness, and help individuals easily engage and connect through the use of technology. Spontivly is a mobile platform which allows users to discover, connect, and coordinate experiences and activities in real-time with like-minded individuals. The mobile platform utilizes geo-spatial technology with future plans to integrate AI.

Spontivly has applied an innovative approach to solving the problem of loneliness and social isolation by revising existing technology to be more intentional and effective at creating meaningful connections. Existing mobile applications which utilize geospatial technology do not provide curated information based on extracted location information to end users. Spontivly is designed in a way which incorporates a streamlined user interface for an activity-creation system that relies on community input to allow for users to discover hyper-localized experiences, events and activities. This approach has allowed us to develop a mobile product that uses GIS mapping as a key component, while integrating geospatial data with user-inputted data to provide meaningful information and interaction. 

Current technology platforms in the event/activity space aggregates randomized content to the end user, where countless time is spent finding what to do in a user’s free time. Spontivly curates information that is relevant and enticing to users based on their interests, schedule and network, cutting the challenge of finding what to do, time and effort spent, and scheduling among friends and colleagues. No existing platform has this level of caliber to curation and gamification to the end user.

The analytics we collect from user participation will provide metrics for user engagement to municipalities specific to SMART city approaches, data informed decisions, and finding effective communication tools to target the millennial demographic for policy decisions.

The solution utilizes geospatial technology providing curated, location based information to end users. The design of our application incorporates a streamlined user interface for an activity-creation system that relies on community input to allow for users to discover hyper-localized experiences, events and activities. By developing a mobile product that uses Google Maps as a key component, we create a layer to take the geospatial data combine it with user-inputted data to provide meaningful information and interaction to the end user regarding hyper-localized experiences. As we collect data, AI will be utilized to help inform personalization and curation to the end user.

The world is connected more than ever, yet urban isolation is a continuing issue. Millennials are bombarded with information not relevant to them which is exactly what the problem is. Current platforms in the event/activity space push information that does not necessarily align with a person’s interests. The person faces the challenge of sifting through this to see what to do and if it interests them. The missing link is the convenience, curation and scheduling factor. Millennials are characterized as technologically savvy, civic-oriented, conscious, flexible, and progressive individuals. Our entry point into the market are targeting millennial groups of interest that are open to change, use their phones frequently, and easily able to accept new ideas. These groups are: high school and university students, recreational sports players, travellers and young professionals. 

The main activity is utilizing a geo-location based mobile platform where the output is service delivery to users and enterprises. Short term outcomes are socialization, ease of discovery, attendance and awareness of curated activities and events one is not privy to. Medium term outcomes are understanding community better, self fulfillment, meaningful interaction, and connections. Long term outcomes are improved mental health, friendships, and sense of belonging. Multiple qualitative and quantitative research methods specific to focus groups, surveys, and interviews have been undertaken to support our links since inception.

We currently have over 70,000 email sign ups from students derived through post secondary institutions (MacEwan University, University of Alberta, and Mount Royal University). We recently completed alpha testing with over 1,000 users to ensure mobile product development, user interface and user experience were compatible for public launch. Based on projections, we will have 5,000 users in 1 year and 1,156,000 users in year 5.

Our goal for next year is to have a presence in the U.S., specifically the east coast as a starting base as we have existing relationships to leverage with post secondary institutions in the Massachusetts area. Our mission is to empower real life connections through meaningful experiences. We want to create a world where social isolation and loneliness are nonexistent; by revolutionizing the way people connect within their communities. We are targeting three sectors to infiltrate - post secondary being first, followed by tourism and municipalities. Students are most adoptive which is why we are targeting post secondary first to gain awareness and traction that will ultimately feed into other sectors within a municipality such as tourism. All three sectors are interlinked and face the same real world problem: loneliness and social isolation.

The biggest immediate barrier is lack of capital in order to scale our service outwards, pay salaries and refine the key underpinnings of our technology product for the next year. Members of our team include a legal team, software development, business development, UI/UX, marketing, and product development in which there is no allocation of salaries. We have secured the biggest partnerships in our Edmonton for our target demographic, however, scaling this outward to another major metropolis will be a challenge due to geography and population density. This impacts our market as there are few and less populated post secondary institutions in Alberta, Canada. The technical barriers that exist currently are the costs associated towards development licenses, platform services, hardware, and software expertise to undertake changes or refinements in a timely manner. In the next five years, closing partnership deals with municipalities and post secondary institutions in a timely manner in the USA will pose a challenge as market research of government department structures, ad hoc regulations and internal institution structure are important for fulfilling deals. In addition, increasing business development personnel in each target sector will be key to take on regions across North America and scaling our company. The overall barrier we face now and in the next five years is securing capital and increasing personnel in our internal units to fulfill goals.

We are currently in the middle of closing our seed round of funding that will give us one year runway where allocation of capital will largely be focussed on salaries, product development and licensing costs, social media marketing, customer acquisition costs, and business development travel. Many of the existing barriers are related to capital and we have managed to have few investors interested in order to close our seed round. With the establishment of seed capital funding, operational and salary allocation for next year will be:

Office space - $7,200

Server cost - $15,000

App Maintenance - $25,000

R&D - $10,000

Hosting Cost - $20,000

Marketing - $60,000

Office Supplies - $3,000

Accounting - $5,000

Other - $1,500

Legal - $10,000

Graphic Design/Marketing - $12,000

UI/UX Developer - $75,000

Full Stack Developer - $100,000

Junior Developer - $55,000

Project Management - $20,000

QA Testing - $20,000

Business Development (2) - $170,000

With costs allocated towards salaries, staff can come onboard full-time and work on scaling into the U.S., leveraging existing U.S. partnerships we have in the east coast. The more partnerships we gain and scale, the easier it is to set a footprint and gain critical mass of users on our mobile platform. This will inform our next round of funding whether its series A or B five years from now, as more staffing will be needed as critical mass grows.

15 person team including full time, part time and contractors.

Full time

CEO & Founder

Part time

Co-Founder & Business Development

Co-Founder & CTO

Product Development Lead

Product Development Officer

UI/UX Designer

Junior Software Developer

IT Specialist

2 Business Development Officers

Data Scientist

Contractors

3 Full Stack Software Developers

We have a very experienced and competent team in various disciplines with skills varied across project management, technical analysis, strategic planning, development, business development, and marketing with relationships for securing partnerships across North America. Detailed team roles below:

Founder: 15+ years of IT experience and business analysis working for IBM, CGI, Alberta Innovates, and Government of Alberta

Co-Founder & Business Development: 4+ years of urban planning experience working in international, provincial, and municipal settings focusing on strategy planning and infrastructure

Co-Founder & CTO: 10+ years leading IT architecture and system design & development with experience working for EPCOR, Government of Alberta, Enbridge, CPC and AHS

Product Development Lead: 3+ years leading startup product design in Silicon Valley, project management and business research

Product Development Officer: 5+ years working in product design, marketing and business development for First Gear Project and cosmetic companies

UI/UX Designer: 3+ years in graphic design for startups and developed viral Snapchat filter for cities in Canada

Junior Software Developer: 10+ years in engineering and IT experience working for GENIVAR, Stantec, Hatch Mott MacDonald, and MC Systems Consulting Ltd

IT Specialist: 20+ years as an IT business consultant, technical support and customer service

2 Business Development Officers: Both run their own startups and successfully have scaled across Canada. Will be full time once capital is secured

Data Scientist: 6+ years as a software engineer and security researcher currently finishing PhD in data science 

3 Software Developers: Reputable Ukrainian full stack tech company specializing in mobile products

We are currently partnering with four organizations: MacEwan University, Edmonton Economic Development & Trade, City of Albert and Northern Alberta Business Incubator Society. All organizations are interested in obtaining real-time geospatial data analytics for users attending events and activities put on for the public. The need for a streamlined, easy to use mobile application to post events and activities that also provides real time data has been a demand for many organizations. By seamlessly connecting directly into an organization’s workflow calendar, we push out events and activities automatically that align with user interests. The contractual agreements are on a 3 year fixed term where marketing for our mobile application is two way between the organization and our company for user retention.

Our business’s target market are millennials specifically in the post secondary, tourism and local municipal sector. The North American market in this industry/space encompasses over 100 million millennials in the U.S. and Canada where there is a total of over 50 million local experiences posted across multiple platforms with over $400 billion dollars in average spend. 

Our platform allows users to create a profile for security and identification purposes and allow users to easily host or attend events/activities. Users will be given a selection of curated activities based on interests indicated on their user profile. In addition, hosts can create these activities and have full autonomy to secure online payment, marketing, and find appropriate venues and vendors. As a result, we aim to integrate people into communities, help solve loneliness, and help individuals easily engage and connect. Key competitors in this space are online and in event creation. These platforms are Evensi, Eventbrite, Meetup, Foursquare, Facebook and Corq.

We collect and help provide data to help organizations understand and serve their market niche and consumer behavior better. In addition, we help government organizations make data driven decisions and create metrics regarding user engagement. This gives an improved understanding of target audience, usage trends, demographic insights, and performance, which is instrumental for business enterprises and public sector associations to improve operations.

We have three main monetization strategies for our mobile product. Back end data will be monetized for $2,160,000 annually in Year 3. The advertising component will be monetized for $134,400 annually in Year 3. Service brokerage revenue will be monetized for $592,900 in Year 3. All forecasted projections are using very conservative estimates. 

In order to fund our work currently, we are currently in the middle of closing our seed round of capital funding of $1 million dollars where we have secured over half of that amount with a lead investor. We will be looking to raise a series A for additional investment capital three to five years out.

Spontivly is applying to Solve because our team believes that Solve can help accelerate our efforts through mentorship, cross-sector partnership and most importantly access to a community which is solving the most pressing issues of the world through technology. Spontivly is on a mission to solve the pressing issue of social isolation and loneliness which we believe at the core requires support from a network like MIT which can validate our impact and help scale our solution. Through support from Solve, Spontivly will be able to drive lasting change in the spaces it hopes to have impact while belonging to a larger community which is committed to harnessing technology for good.

Our main target sectors for partnerships are post secondary institutions, tourism agencies, and municipalities. In addition, we also want to partner with small business enterprises, restaurants, and sports leagues. Partnerships with MIT, Harvard University, UMass Amherst, Boston University, Tufts University, Northeastern University, Boston College, University of Massachusetts Boston, and Berklee College of Music are post secondary institutions we are interested in partnering with. 

If considered for the Morgridge Family Foundation Community-Driven Innovation Prize, Spontivly will utilize this prize to scale user engagement with the millennial population through participation in events and conferences both in Canada as well US. The opportunity to connect and talk to diverse millennials will allow us to make necessary revisions to Spontivly as we continue to tackle the issue of social isolation and loneliness.