A new Uber-style tutoring app wants to change the way students study.
Knack, a free app that uses GPS technology to find available tutors, launched Tuesday at UF and the University of Central Florida. The brainchild of Samyr Qureshi, a UF alumnus and the company’s CEO, said the app charges students a flat rate of $20 per hour, with a $5 minimum.
Students who download the app, currently only available for iPhones, enter the course in which they need tutoring and their location. They can then request a tutor in their area, who is required to have earned a B-plus in the course they are tutoring, Qureshi said.
Knack offers tutoring sessions for more than 300 courses at UF and UCF. Currently, about 45 tutors at UF are registered, said Dennis Hansen, Knack chief product officer and a 23-year-old UF industrial and systems engineering senior.
As opposed to other tutoring services, Qureshi said Knack promotes one-on-one learning, which he said is more valuable than online or group sessions.
"It makes it more conducive," he said. "It makes it more fun."
During the launch Tuesday, Qureshi and other coworkers handed out cookies, T-shirts and $10 tutoring coupons. He said the Gainesville startup community provides the perfect breeding ground for entrepreneurship.
"Things just kind of blow up very quickly here," Qureshi said.
Its official launch in Florida followed the app’s first-place finish at a startup competition in San Francisco and third place in a local competition earlier this year.
After running the company out-of-pocket for several months, Qureshi and his co-founders secured an investor for the company at the start of Fall, which made the Tuesday launch possible. He declined to say how much the app cost to make.
The company is located in Bryan Hall, where the Warrington School of Business dean granted them a working space and mentorship opportunities. Qureshi will work with Hansen; David Stoker, a UF alumnus; and Shawn Doyle, a UCF alumnus. He considers them co-founders because they helped turned the idea into a business.
Megan Zimmerman, a UF applied physiology and kinesiology sophomore, came to the launch event. She said she thinks Knack may be a solution for her stress over her upcoming organic chemistry exam.
"I think it’s brilliant," the 20-year-old said.
Contact Martin Vassolo at mvassolo@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @martindvassolo
