Welcoming Cove to the Genesis Portfolio
The Genesis program is thrilled to announce our investment in COVE, a groundbreaking events platform founded by Johnson Dinh, Miguel Lopez, and Anand Clemens that addresses the critical challenge of social isolation among college students.
Introducing Cove
This year, Genesis partnered with COVE College Events, an innovative app transforming how college students discover and engage with campus social opportunities. Cove provides an all-in-one platform for college communities to host listings for social events, even allowing hosts to manage ticketing and RSVPs through the app.
The Idea
In a world where 53% of college students report feelings of loneliness, COVE emerges as a critical solution. The app serves as a centralized platform for discovering on and off-campus events, specifically targeting the University of Texas at Austin student population. By aggregating events from various organizations and sources, COVE eliminates the stress of searching across multiple platforms such as GroupMe, Instagram, and HornsLink. Additionally, the app includes a live chat feature for users to communicate about a specific event.
The Founders
Johnson Dinh, CEO and Co-founder
Johnson is a Mathematics student who graduates in May 2024. With a background in social relationship app development from a previous internship at Pop, Johnson conceptualized COVE in June of 2022.
Miguel Lopez, CTO, Co-founder and Lead Developer
Miguel is a computer science student graduating in 2026. Driven by his passion for the COVE concept, Miguel relocated to Austin to collaborate with Johnson and now even shares a living space with his co-founder. His technical expertise has been crucial in developing the app’s infrastructure and user experience.
Anand Clemens, CMO
Anand studies Computer Science and Business Management at UT Austin. Before joining COVE, he ran an Instagram page with over 2,000 followers that promoted parties and social events at UT. After meeting Johnson, Anand was so impressed by the app’s potential that he transformed his Instagram page into a promotional platform for COVE and officially joined the team in October 2022.
How Are They Doing?
Since launching in October 2022, COVE has achieved remarkable traction:
- 5,800 App Downloads
- 2,000 Weekly Active Users
- 40+ organizations posting events
- Generated initial revenue through event marketing
Looking ahead, Cove plans to:
- Launch a ticketing feature for their app
- Expand to other universities
COVE demonstrates how innovative technologies can be used to rethink campus social experiences, addressing the critical issue of student isolation through intelligent event discovery. This partnership was spearheaded by Eduardo Herrera, a Genesis venture partner passionate about supporting innovative technologies that enhance student experiences. We are excited to support their efforts to provide meaningful social connections and opportunities for students across universities. Stay tuned for updates on COVE and other groundbreaking ventures in the Genesis portfolio!
