DrinkOwl
In the last few years, technological developments like GPS and Google Maps have changed the way we understand directions. A group of University of Toronto graduates have harnessed this geo-location technology, and have applied it to what they believe is an important part of life as a college student: partying at bars. On February 3, the group released an iPhone app known as DrinkOwl, a tool for finding drink specials at the closest bars in your neighborhood, or wherever you may be on a Friday night. The app also has a catalogue of every liquor retail store in Canada. Since its initial launch, DrinkOwl has gained over ten thousand users, and has now accumulated information in thirty cities across North America.
DrinkOwl was in development for a year before its launch in February. “When we would go out at night, the question would come up: What’s going on? Where are the specials tonight? That question would come up over and over again,” says Ryan Cooley, DrinkOwl product manager.
Using their technical know-how as engineering students, the group of friends wanted to create a system which would have the information regarding drink specials and make it available to the masses in an accessible form. “It started as a localized thing, just a bunch of students trying to help other students,” says Cooley. Since its launch, DrinkOwl has expanded into the United States.
The DrinkOwl team has the future in their sights. In upcoming releases, they hope to incorporate a social networking feature within the app — this feature will not only inform the user where the drink specials are, but will also provide the thoughts and opinions of people who have been to the bar and a list of those currently at the location.
“Such technology […] is pretty new,” says Cooley. “The accuracy and power of it, and the speed, is amazing. But the fact that we can take technology and add on specific things, like how to find this and how to get there, exactly from where you’re standing is a technology we are excited about. Communication is a key part of our app, and also a key part of new technologies.”
“It’s amazing to see that you can be anywhere in [the] country and have your mobile device be able to pinpoint you and tell you exactly where you are,” he adds. For a bunch of students, using this technology to find a great bar with drink specials seemed to be the next logical step.
The team is also developing a feature for bar owners to input information about their business in the DrinkOwl database. Android and Blackberry versions of the app are also in the works.—Jakob Tanner
Oohlala
Danial Jameel spent last summer holed up in a U of T library, running on little more than four hours of sleep a night. Whether it was midday or creeping into the early hours of the morning, Jameel could be found glued to his computer screen in the cramped residence library with two fellow undergrads, James Dang and Alice Dinu.
“We basically hijacked our residence library in the basement at UC until they kicked us out,” Jameel recalls. It was a routine more reminiscent of the spring exam crunch than a scorching summer afternoon.
But Jameel, Dang, and Dinu weren’t writing essays or cramming for exams. Instead, they were building their own mobile application from scratch, enduring marathon-like coding sessions à la The Social Network for months on end.
The final product, launched in November, is OOHLALA Mobile, a free downloadable app geared toward university students. It combines coupon deals with a chatting service and a calendar of student life events. Think GroupOn meets instant messenger meets student listserv — all in the palm of your hand.
Now available to users on various mobile platforms in both Toronto and Montreal (Queen’s University in Kingston is the next target audience), this student-designed, student-centric app has already gathered more than 3,000 active users. Earlier in March, OOHLALA was also featured as one of the top fifty free applications in the Lifestyle category of Apple’s App Store.
Like so many startup success stories, OOHLALA began as little more than a pipe dream for its creators, who first proposed the idea at a business competition for the Rotman School of Management.
“Apparently, the idea was good enough that we actually won the competition so we thought, ‘Wow, maybe there’s something here,’” says Jameel, who currently divides his time (not altogether evenly, he admits) between OOHLALA and studies in political science and economics.
The OOHLALA team, which now includes seven students, predict their app will begin turning a profit by the end of March. Considering there are more than 350,000 applications available for download on the iOS platform alone, this will be no easy feat.
Equally impressive, however, is the team’s ability to stay afloat in the face of long hours, little money, and the looming odds of failure — not to mention the regular demands of being a student.
“When we’re not studying, this is pretty much all we do,” admits Jameel. “Most of our expenses come from our head and our heart; how much time and effort we can put in.
“But that’s what we love: helping students out,” he explains, pegging OOHLALA’s success on the team’s passion. “If we did not have fun, honestly, we would not be doing this.”—Meghan Lawson
