Founders and College Entrepreneur here with another team profile. Every week we’ll be providing you with a profile on a UIUC student startup. This time, we’re chatting with Cover’d.
Description
Cover’d is an app that allows users to pay cover charge via credit or debit at featured bars and venues. Through their seamless app, users pay cover charge directly on their phones and can simply scan a QR code on their phones once they arrive to enter.
Mission
Our mission is to foster a more stress-free night out for bar and nightclub goers everywhere. Cover’d is a mobile application that lets bar and nightclub goers purchase admission to their favorite venues without the hassle of ATM lines and fees. We place our clients’ interests first by providing exceptional customer service and working diligently to provide solutions to any and all difficulties that may arise. We abide by the principle that this application is made by the users for the users.
Team
Elliot Reibman, Jake Price, Jonathan Wexler
How did you meet?
After Jake and Elliot decided to move forward with the idea, they contacted some programmers. None of them ended up working out, but through a mutual friend they heard about Jonathan’s previous app development. After meeting, we all decided it would be great to work together on this project.
If you could give your past self advice, it would be to….
Never lose sight of the bigger picture. It’s very easy to get bogged down by a bad day, when something goes wrong at a bar or we hear that a bar doesn’t want to move forward with Cover’d. However, we were never expecting the app to explode immediately, so we need to just keep grinding and building our bar and user base.
Progress so far
Cover’d is running at Kam’s, and people can get great discounts on covers there using the app. We’re in the process of building Cover’d for Android, which could almost double our available user base. Additionally, we plan to start Cover’d at Joe’s Brewery using a pass system, where patrons can buy cover for a month at a time, soon.
Next Steps
Our next step is to keep expanding. We are reaching out to more bars at UIUC as well as other Big Ten college campuses. Our end goal is to have Cover’d in every bar in the country.
