Curbit

Hi! Our names are Ben and Dan and we are both students at the University of Waterloo heading into our second year. I, Dan, am in Biotechnology and Business, and Ben is in Materials and Nanoscience. We are here  to pitch to you our innovative website curbit.ca.

Our Inspiration:

Curbit is an easy to use site that will allow cheap, affordable solutions for students. As current university students suffering under the ever-growing mountain of debt, we have always looked for new ways to save money. One day while driving along the neighbourhood streets looking for furniture to put in our newly leased student apartment, we came up with the idea of Curbit.

The main idea in starting Curbit was to connect students looking to get rid of their old "junk" to students looking for that cheap solution. We believe that this is an innovative idea that will create a bridge towards students helping students; and maybe relieve some of that money stress that comes with being in school.

Our Idea:

Curbit is a local classified website like Kijiji, aimed specifically towards colleges and universities. The website will be divided into four categories: Living, Books, Housing, and "Curbit". Living will consist of furniture , appliances, electronics and anything else needed in student's life. A money cap will be placed on how much you can sell items for so that everything on the site is cheap and affordable. The second category, books, will be a book exchange where students can sell or give away their textbooks to those in the preceding years. The third category, housing, will be devoted to those looking to either sublet or rent an apartment near their university and will act as a bridge to connect landlords to students. The fourth category, which is the idea we built upon is Curbit. This refers to anything that a student would otherwise leave on a curb. Anything entered in this category is considered free to pick up.  

  Where will the money go?

The money acquired will be used towards web design and web upkeep.

To create this website we have been given multiple estimates ranging from $5000 to $10,000. A large majority of the money raised will go towards launching the website.

If we achieve enough funds to cover the cost of launching the website, the next purchase would be to rent a domain and find a place to host our website which will cost approximately $150/year.

Any extra money raised will be used in media advertising on local radio networks, flyers, and newspaper ads.

If we do not reach our entire goal, the money raised will be used towards paying off a portion of the website and the rest of the funds will be acquired by other means.

We believe in this and are excited to get the ball rolling. We hope you are too!

A secition of our website will be reserved as a thank you for all of you who donate 50 dollars or more!

The Impact:

It is a scary experience when you leave home for the first time. For many, post secondary school is the first time that they are on their own and along with the joys of being free from their parents, comes many challenges.  Keeping up with school, work and the student social life can be an overwhelming experience. Our hope is that through this website we can give some relief to those students working off of a budget.

We thank you for your support and hope that you are as excited as we are!  Make sure to spread the word and share our story so that we can make this idea a reality!