Founder Profile: StudyBuddies
Website: Michigan StudyBuddies
Michigan StudyBuddies took campus by storm this fall and was the saving grace from the terrors of “Zoom University.” StudyBuddies is an online platform that pairs up students in the University of Michigan community with other students in their class in need of a “Study Buddy.” With 7,000 signups prior to the commencement of fall semester, this startup was undeniably a hit amongst the academic community in Ann Arbor. Having already expanded to two additional Universities across the United States, we feel pretty confident that they are just getting started.
We got a chance to catch up with founders Varun Jindal and Sam Forman to have them answer a few questions for the V1 community. Check out what they had to say below and make sure to be on the look out for their startup profile in this months V1 @ Michigan Newsletter:
Can you each give us some quick background about yourselves?
Varun: “I’m currently a student studying computer science and I love to dance and build!”
Sam: “Yeah, my name is Sam and I’m studying computer science and creative writing. I love to write, run and create.”
Can you give us the StudyBuddies elevator pitch?
“Zoom University makes it hard to find friends to study with in your classes. StudyBuddies was created to connect students in an isolating time. We are working towards becoming the de facto way for students to communicate about all things school related. Currently, we are forming study groups of 4 by student compatibility.”
What inspired you guys to build StudyBuddies?
“Both of us noticed how hard it was meeting people in our classes when we first went virtual. We knew another semester of that was going to be isolating, and wanted to find a way to fix that.”
Can you tell us a little bit about your team?
“We are currently 2 co-founders doing all the design and development. We have marketing directors at both UCLA and UChicago who have been pushing the message out to reach as many students as possible.”
What are some recent milestones StudyBuddies has hit?
- “We launched in UChicago 7 days ago and got over 12% of their student body to sign up so far.”
- “We reached over 7000 signups at U of M.”
What’s on the roadmap for the year ahead?
“StudyBuddies is currently a website. We plan on making it a platform. All student communication will be seamless in our future app. You enter the app, type in your class, and you are immediately put in a group chat with all of your classmates. You will also have the ability to get matched with study groups.”
Alright, so what’s the big picture? Where do you see StudyBuddies in the future?
“We want StudyBuddies to become the defacto way for students to communicate about school related things.”
How are you looking to grow your team? What traits are you looking for in new members?
Members needed:
- React-native Developer
- UI/UX Designer
“As far as traits go, we are looking for people who can think critically about user needs and get heavily involved with product decisions. Additionally, we are looking for people who are experienced in the realm of design as well as mobile app work.”
Anything you guys would like to add before we wrap this up?
“Hit us up if you’re interested in joining our team at team@studybuddies.ai The position will be equity compensated!”
Thanks for for reading! If you are a designer or engineer at the University of Michigan interested in working with Varun & Sam, be sure to visit our website and sign up for our monthly newsletter today. Additionally, stay tuned for more Founder Profile’s to come!