The people
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About
Reach Social was co-founded by Sarah Main, who was chief executive, and Brent Hussey, chief product officer, after Main hit the problem herself at McGill. She built the company in an unusual order: an advisory board first to establish credibility, then letters of intent from BC university CTOs to prove demand, then a place in the 2015 cohort of The Next Big Thing, then $150,000 from friends and family on the condition that any further money would not come from them. She stretched that with an IRAP technology validation grant and by pitching a UBC engineering capstone class, whose students built the mobile app over six months at no cost. The beta launched at UBC, UVic, SFU and BCIT.
Backers
A $150,000 friends-and-family round, an IRAP technology validation grant and education grants; alumnus of The Next Big Thing's 2015 cohort.
Quick answers
What was Reach Social?
A platform for postsecondary students to run group projects — messaging, a syncable calendar for deadlines and file sharing through Google Drive and Dropbox, grouped into temporary spaces that expired with the project.
Who founded Reach Social?
Sarah Main, who was chief executive, and Brent Hussey, chief product officer. Main started it at 23 with, in her words, no tech background, no business background and no work experience.
How did it get built without much money?
Main raised $150,000 from friends and family, used an IRAP technology validation grant and school education grants to fund development, and had a UBC engineering capstone team build the mobile app for free over six months.