Two alumni release NextSpot in the app store

NextSpot offers a convenient application for connecting users and organizing everyday meetups. Alumni Daanish Jamal (12) and Adhir Ravipati (05) started building the app in mid-2013.

NextSpot offers a convenient application for connecting users and organizing everyday meetups. Alumni Daanish Jamal (’12) and Adhir Ravipati (’05) started building the app in mid-2013.

Alumni Daanish Jamal (‘12) and Adhir Ravipati (‘05) released the app NextSpot on both Apple and Android markets in February.

 

After bonding over football at family get-togethers, the two friends talked about forming the app over the summer of 2013, in order to making coordinating get-togethers simpler.

 

Daanish was skeptical over starting a small company.

 

“We started our initial conversation June 2012, so soon after I graduated, and at that time we didn’t really have any intentions of pursuing,” Daanish said. “Once I had gotten into college, I realized that college was the perfect playground for an app like this.”

 

The free app, developed by NextSpot Inc., is designed to help users organize everyday meetups in a collaborative progress.

 

“The mobile application offers an intuitive process for contacting groups of people and coordinating decisions more efficiently than text-messages, messaging apps, social media, or event-creation services,” says the company. “In essence, NextSpot aims to be the primary service for organizing the full spectrum of group activities.”

 

Initially, the app works on an Evite-like planning base– by using a user-friendly operating system, the host selects a proposal event, time, and location, which can be customized or found via Yelp. After being invited and creating an account, other group members can discuss and change the details via chat system.

 

NextSpot’s innovative system for connecting users is optimal for smartphones and other touch based devices.

 

“I think NextSpot sounds like a great tool for keeping in touch with outside of school friends who we don’t often meet up with because of our busy lives,” Alayna Richmond (9) said.

 

High schools and colleges are the ideal target audience for the app due to the students’ busy schedules.

 

“High school kids are definitely active in their social lives- the weekends tend to be the primary focus for them,” Adhir said.

 

Originally, the two created the app for a different student market. “We had college students in mind at the start, but there are a lot of utilities for the high school students. High school is another kind of market that makes a lot of sense for this app,” Daanish said.

 

For the future, the company plans to fix the bugs and crashes that have been reported on its site, and afterwards begin marketing the app in new and creative ways. Utilizing Daanish’s college as a testing ground, the two plan to “stay engaged with Harker as much as we can to get a high school perspective.”

 

NextSpot is currently available on the iOS and Android markets. All questions and feedback are encouraged to be sent to [email protected]

 

 

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on March 12, 2014.