Students from Grand Canyon University (GCU) in Phoenix last week won a Smart City Hack (SCH) business-startup competition with a peer-to-peer self-storage concept. Led by Jed Woods, a 20-year-old business-administration major, the student group beat four other contenders with Storage Together, an online platform designed to help people in need of storage connect with local hosts offering space for rent in their homes, garages, etc.
The students began working on Storage Together after being dissatisfied with options to store their belongings between semesters, the source reported. The peer-to-peer storage concept was selected by a panel of judges comprised of local startups and audience members. It beat ideas ranging from an air-pollution monitoring device to a virtual assistant designed for students. Each team presented their product or service and took questions from the panel and audience. The GCU team won $3,000.
SCH, formerly known as Smart City App Hack, is an international initiative designed to bring innovative ideas to light and empower citizens to “develop functioning technology products that solve pressing civic challenges,” according to the website.
The GCU student group will next compete against other concepts in Barcelona, Spain, where the SCH council will examine ways to implement the startup entries within cities for “real-world scenarios,” according to the source.