Member Article

Durham students secure £250k for university App

A team of Durham students have secured £250k investment to develop their student-focussed App.

Led by Stephen Irvine, the Durham University team have created ‘Threesixty Campus’ - an App that enables students to keep tabs on social events via their mobiles.

Funding from Finance for Business North East Accelerator Fund, which is managed by Newcastle-based Northstar Ventures, has been used to develop the app in time to launch it at Freshers’ Fairs later this month.

24 year-old Stephen said: “It is something that started as an idea in my room at Durham which then progressed over the summer after I managed to entice fellow students to join me on my journey.

“We all lived together and worked together, and in return for their help I offered my team free rent whilst keeping them well fed with plenty of takeaways!

“I have been a Fresher at three different Universities – New York, Nottingham and, most recently, Durham – so I have a real insight into how the student market works.

“The investment will enable us to develop our product further in response to student needs and to scale-up for our wider UK and US launch early next year.”

The App also allows those running student societies to manage their membership more efficiently and, by streamlining payments, removes the need for cash and cheques on campus.

Alex Buchan, investment manager at Northstar, said: “This product has the real potential to effect a radical change in how student societies are run, making them much more accessible and vastly improving communications between the committees and members.

“The team is currently marketing the product into three target Universities – Durham, York and Nottingham – and has so far had an excellent response. I am looking forward to seeing how the company progresses over the coming months.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .