Executive Summary

Many tertiary students—especially freshmen, commuters, and those returning post-pandemic—struggle to find low-friction opportunities to meet peers for lunch, study, or casual hangouts, which reduces social connection and can impact retention and wellbeing. Universities and student services currently lack a simple, private way to surface who’s nearby and available without pushing students onto large public social platforms. Build a lightweight campus map app that shows verified campus-only profiles, geofenced “available now” pins, and quick meetup scheduling for meals, study sessions, or events, with optional university SSO verification and strong privacy controls. Focus on low-effort actions (one-tap meet requests, time-limited visibility) and integration points with campus calendars and orientation programs to bootstrap usage. The addressable market is sizable—~220 million tertiary students globally implying a $5.28B market at $24 ARPU—and trends favoring in-person connection plus increasing university budgets for digital engagement make partnerships and institutional licensing viable revenue paths. With a Market Score of 88/100 and medium competition, there’s room to capture share if you can prove retention and engagement metrics. The clearest competitive edge is a privacy-first, campus-verified experience combined with institutional integrations (SSO, campus maps, orientation programs) that open B2B revenue and trust; the main challenges will be solving initial network effects, verification workflows, and campus-by-campus onboarding, so plan pilots with a few partner universities first.

Market Opportunity

Help students meet nearby peers for lunch, study, or hangouts via a campus map targets a $5.28B = 220M global tertiary students × $24 ARPU per year total addressable market with medium saturation and a year-over-year growth rate of 8% estimated growth in mobile-first social engagement among Gen Z and campus digital services (industry reports / app engagement trends 2022-2024).

Key trends driving demand: Post-pandemic desire for in-person connection is rising among students — this increases demand for tools that facilitate low-effort meetups.; Universities are investing in digital student engagement and retention tools — this creates partnership opportunities and budgets to monetize campus-targeted apps.; Privacy-first design and verified-user experiences are becoming competitive advantages — students prefer verified campus-only spaces over open social platforms.; Mobile-first micro-interactions (short time-window meetups, ephemeral availability) fit modern student behavior and lower friction for trying new social apps..

Key competitors include Bumble BFF, Meetup, Facebook / Meta Groups & Events.

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Help students meet nearby peers for lunch, study, or hangouts via a campus map

Executive Summary

Market Validation

Market Opportunity

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