A Boston-based startup offers college students a new social app that bills itself as “the Facebook for this generation, sprinkled with a touch of Google and a dash of Groupon.”
Student Nation, which launched the free app late last month at Boston College and expects to expand to other colleges and universities by next year, brings students together through real-time engagement and entertainment, while offering discounts and incentives from area businesses.
“There’s nothing I can think of that it cannot do,” said Frank Stamos, a 1998 BC alumnus who co-founded the company last fall with Ari Kalos, its CTO. “The beauty of the app is students can listen to the latest music, watch the latest videos and interact with other students who’ve downloaded it.”
Student Nation also has integrated news from BC’s website; live radio feeds from college stations; photo galleries using Instagram, Twitter hashtags and Facebook feeds; and event listings with real-time directions and ticket purchasing, as well as the ability to see which of your friends is going.
“We want to keep it exclusive at first … similar to how Facebook started,” Kalos said. “But unlike Facebook, which opened up to everyone and is now losing its ‘cool’ factor with younger viewers, we’re sticking only with students, so we’ll always be cool.”?Students earn points for every time they use the app, and the top users get gift cards to local businesses, Stamos said.
Student Nation makes money by charging merchants $45 per month, $250 for six months or $400 for one year to be listed on the app and the company’s website, studentnation.me.
Lea Tzigizis, whose family owns Steve’s Kitchen in Allston, said they subscribed to Student Nation and began offering a free coffee with any purchase after several new breakfast places opened up in the neighborhood and began slowing their business.
“We’re hoping by advertising with Student Nation,” she said, “we’ll be able to put our name back out there again.”