Munirul-Haq Raza | News Editor; Dennis Bayazitov | Assistant News Editor
Featured Image: Socero—like Trivago, but for events instead of traveling. | Jeffrey Bruno
A York startup—co-founded by David Kim, Jimmy Tang, and Jonathan Lam—has launched a new event discovery app called Socero.
The app team is currently based out of Scott Library, where they manage the Toronto-only app.
Socero has a personal opportunity manager that utilizes machine-learning algorithms, giving personalized recommendations to its users, and is designed to improve the more it is used.
“We all started in the Village—but I guess you could call it a garage, in a way,” says Tang, app cofounder and Android developer.
The app’s goal is to “improve student engagement on campus, which will make it more accessible to discover things happening on campus and in the city,” adds Kim, a biology graduate, who recently returned to university to complete a psychology degree—which is now on hold.
Kim says that the group is adding features based on the York community’s input.
“To put it in simple terms, it’s like Trivago—but instead of hotels, it’s for events,” clarifies Tang.
“We compile information from different sources, and load it into our backend database to inform the users of events in their local area—in this case, Toronto.”
Socero was conceptualized through a club Kim started at York, called Agents of Change (AOG).
Kim wanted an app that enabled AOG to achieves its goals, which included “sharing ideas, voting on the best one, and then executing it within a month,” Kim says.
After some unsuccessful attempts to locate such an app, Kim turned to Hackfest, an annual coding event held in the Steacie Library, where he met Tang and Lam.
“I believe hackathons can—and will—change the world,” Kim adds.
“It was a test to develop an application relating to big data,” Tang says.
Soon after, Server Engineer Merup Shah met Kim and Tang. “I am an international student, so I had completed my studies and was looking for work.
“I actually ended up receiving a job offer in Manitoba,” he adds. “It was easier for me to get permanent residency there. I had already booked my ticket and everything, and then I suddenly met David through one of my friends.”
Shah elected to stay in Toronto and join the team.
“They were working on Socero on a part-time basis for a few months. When I heard about the idea, I thought this could be useful. I, like a lot of other students, was often simply looking for something to do.”
Andrew Puente, a master’s Business student at Schulich and Kim’s former roommate, has seen Socero evolve since its inception.
Having an interest in urban farming and politics, Puente says the app helps him find conferences and events that help him better pursue such fields. He also uses it for date ideas with his girlfriend, such as movie nights and finding new restaurants. Puente says he has seen several other Schulich students also use the app.
“The app’s reception was lukewarm,” Tang recalls. “People started supporting us. We’ve gone through several iterations and got feedback from users who liked the idea, and we’ve been talking with them. We’ve had a remarkable back-and-forth conversation with our user base.”
Shah shares the problem he believes Socero solves. “I think, when international students come here, they begin to feel rather lonely. When I came here in the beginning, I had no family or friends, and for a period of time I didn’t know what people did in Toronto, nor how to network with others.”
As of now, the Socero team consists of 10 members based out of Scott Library, where they have a development space and confer with students, aiming to implement their feedback.
Kim hopes, that as technology gets recycled and Wi-Fi becomes more inexpensive, apps like this will one day expand beyond local events and communities to include ideas by innovative people around the world.
