Second Time’s The Charm: Storage Together Wins Canyon Challenge

Coming back for the second year, Storage Together won the 6th annual Canyon Challenge at Grand Canyon University on Thursday. Storage Together makes storage more personable and lucrative for the everyday person.

The mobile app aims to revolutionize the storage experience for everyone, starting with college students. The app allows users to rent space from other users in a similar fashion to Airbnb.

Joshua McGuire (left) and Luke Amargo presented their pitch for Storage Together at the 6th annual Canyon Challenge.Luke Amargo (right) and Joshua McGuire presented the team’s pitch year. They made sure to note their verification process of users and that they were beginning conversations with insurance companies, as they were asked some insurance based questions in previous competitions.

Last year, Storage Together lost the Canyon Challenge. The team released an alpha version of the app for the students of GCU the summer of 2016. Amargo, McGuire, Braeden Scheer, Chelsea Evans, and Jedidiah Woods took what they learned from those experiences and worked to improve their product.

Storage Together then competed in the AZ iDP Smart City App Hack competition in October. The team of five co-founders won a trip to Barcelona, Spain to represent Phoenix, AZ in the international competition at the Smart City Expo. They were also awarded $3,000.

After months of mentorship and improvement on their business the team returned to the challenge to present to the students of GCU and a panel of judges including: Jane Dobbs of Canyon State Credit Union, Natalie Speers of Social Ally, Michael Hool of Hool Coury Law, Jim Goulka of Arizona Tech Investors and Zach Ferres of Coplex.

The judges unanimously decided that Storage Together won, not only because it was a good idea, but also because they're a team working to execute on their business plan.

“The livelihood is only a little bit,” Goulka said. “If you can make a business happen that's going to be a good investment.”

Storage Together won $6,000.  Second and third place received $3,000 and $1,000 respectively.

Randy Gibb, Dean of Coangelo College of Business, and Tim Kelley, Entrepreneurial Faculty at GCU, hope to bring back an inter-collegiate competition next year to Arizona to promote entrepreneurship in college students and the state, and are willing to host it at GCU.

1st Place – Storage Together

An app that connects people in need of storage space with hosts. Hosts earn money by listing empty space while renters save money by getting the exact amount of storage space they need for the exact time they need it.

2nd Place – Outbound Explorer

Providing reviews, descriptions, directions and rewards for the best adventure spots, this app is available in 15 different states. It incentivizes individuals to visit adventurous sites by offering rewards and deals to people who go there.

3rd Place – Zenjoi

Inspired by their mother with Alzheimer’s disease, two brothers deliver VR technology that can serve as a non-pharmacological treatment to help alleviate the symptoms of Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

Coloot

A platform that allows fundraisers to raise money free of charge and expand their exposure, Coloot generates revenue through retail and donates portions of the proceeds to charities and social causes and eliminate crowdfunding fees.

Secured Together

This platform gives verified users the ability to pin drop a geo-located map in red, alerting potential dangers or hazards. Verified users will include student leaders staff and public safety. Secured Together is an app that seeks to improve college security and eventually transform neighborhood watch.

 

(Photo by GrandCanyonU via Creative Commons)

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Written by:
Chelsea is a journalism student at Arizona State University. She enjoys introducing people to new things, topics and ideas. She has written for Downtown Devil, azcentral and EmpowHER. She is currently the social media chair for her student chapter of National Association of Black Journalists. When she isn’t writing articles or doing homework, she is probably in the kitchen trying a new recipe.
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