We at LD Talent are proud to have worked with Bizi (previously Buffr), who hired engineers Ian D and Alex W to build a COVID-19 app that ensures social distancing on Northwestern University’s campus, but in a fun way. Undergrads Martha Castro, Benji Gross, and Alicia Lee are the cofounders of the application who hired talent using LD.
Here is what Martha and team said about our 5 hour free trial and subsequent work:
Very cool platform. Takes a while to adjust, especially with the daily check-ins but super useful!
And here is a link to what they’re working on: https://www.linkedin.com/company/biziapp/about/
The Tech was React Native and Node
Ian and Alex worked on a React Native application and a Node JS backend for the application. They also leveraged Python on occasion. The developers did the full stack. They used APIs that leverage bluetooth and beacons.
The Need for a Social Distancing App on Campus
Need for what Bizi is doing: As universities re-open, it is clear that students will be in close spaces with each other and hence need to interact in an entirely new way to maintain social distance.
Student Driven Social Distancing
Why Martha, Benji, and Alicia started Bizi: The team at Bizi is perfect because they are students themselves. They know how students interact. They know what feels like a gentle reminder to social distance, and what feels annoying and patronizing.
Projections for Bizi’s Market
Market for Bizi: The market for this product is large because the team can expand beyond Northwestern. They have received grants from the university already for the social distancing app. In our opinion at LD, they will likely make the university their customer. Say they charge the university just $1 per person per year, then that’s a revenue of $20K+ per year. If they expand to 25 universities, then we’re talking half a million in revenue per year. They will have low costs since their solution is primarily a software product.
Competition in Contact Tracing and Social Distancing Apps
Competitve Analysis for Bizi: Harvard’s Public Health school has put forth several apps that help control spread. MD2K in Memphis has developed another. CovidSafe at UW is another campus social distancing app. There are several other apps. Bizi is uniquely positioned in that they come from the student perspective and leverage bluetooth rather than just surveys.
Do you have an idea like Martha, Benji, and Alicia did?
Currently we at LD Talent are offering 5 free hours of engineering to any interested client who has a project and wants to try LD Talent to find contract or FTE talent (local or remote). Plus opportunities to provide reviews on the likes of ProductHunt to earn more free hours.
This is the second Northwestern client after Prof Nabil Alshurafa.
Our network consists of engineers skilled in frontend and backend development, mobile development, python, react, react native, AI, deep learning, tensorflow, scraping, selenium browser automation, blockchain, Unity, and more.
If you’d like to get matched with engineers, view their resumés, and hire talent, please visit ldtalent.org
