A Sneak Peek at ByME: The Digital College Campus By Students, For Students

Trisha Cruz Oct 5, 2011 Tweet

Social networks and daily-deal services are a dime a dozen these days, but Minneapolis-based startup ByME is looking to create an all-inclusive online community catered to the university lot.

Founded by Chad Olsen, a current junior at the University of Minnesota, College ByME connects college communities together through user connections and location-based services. The startup’s aim is to provide students with an easier way to navigate and interact with their specific campuses.

ByME allows users to “shoutout” to fellow students at their school in real-time – and pretty much anything goes. Browsing the site, I found that users are discussing everything from “Qdoba vs. Chipotle” to tips for surviving your freshman year. And since The College Kid only talks in text-speak, ByME categorizes the discussions by most recent, OMG, LOL, and FAIL.

The service also features a daily “Campus Steal” based on the businesses and restaurants closest to your campus. As a (nearly) broke college student myself, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that these deals can be a godsend when you’re saving pennies at the end of the month.

Everything on ByME is focused on creating an online social sphere that connects participants with organizations, businesses and other students within their university community. The service aims to keep students in-the-loop about the latest events on their campuses.

As ByME is still in its initial stages, the young startup is currently looking for Round A investors. According to Olsen, a lot more additional features are in the works.

ByME was just featured at our Tech Cocktail Minneapolis event last night, but you can learn more about the budding company at their site collegeby.me. The free app is available for download now for iOS and Android.