The 16 annual New York Venture Summit took place last week and there were more fast pitches happening at the Summit than at Yankee stadium, and with much higher stakes. If the players have the right product and the right plan and the right pitch, they can land funding that could be a game changer for them. GetAssist.com founder and president Bruce Fikowski, from Calgary Alberta, was in the thick of it pitching his newest network and there was lots of interest in this homegrown app.
The Summit is the premier industry gathering connecting venture capitalists, commercial VC’s, angel investors, technology transfer professionals, senior executives of early stage and evolving growth corporations, university scholars, incubators and premier service providers. The opportunity to get an audience with this pre-qualified group of potential investors was immeasurable, said Fikowski. This fast-growing app is exactly the type of business these investors are looking to get behind.
After five years of R&D, the global multi-purpose app GetAssist.com, was launched in October of 2015. One of the main unique features of the app is the Make a Request button that puts people in touch with local quality service providers to get people the help they need, when they need it. Since the launch in October the company has recruited over 1300 businesses in Calgary which lead them to open their next market in Edmonton six short months later with another 400 businesses and counting. Two other Alberta markets are opening up in August of 2016 with plans to open two new markets every three months.
The apps that have longevity are ones that were created to fulfill a need. Often you hear people say someone should invent something that does “this. Well Bruce Fikowski did just that. The idea of GetAssist came to Fikowski when he realized he needed to be engaged with social media to keep track of his family that was dispersed across the country but was frustrated with the traditional social networking options. That coupled with the fact that he needed to find someone to install a light above his kitchen table and after many frustrated phone calls was unable to find anyone that would take on a small job within his budget. He thought there has got to be someone out there that wants to do this job. That’s when the idea of GetAssist was born.
In the R&D stage Fikowski found he was not the only one frustrated with the existing social network apps. The research pointed towards a growing population of users who were tired of the unwanted advertising, unwanted content and lack of privacy and security. People are getting tired of connecting for the sake of connecting and wanted to start using social media as a purposeful tool. Fikowski turned a need into a thriving sustainable business that helps small to medium sized businesses reach a clientele they would not otherwise be able to afford to reach. This lead generation from the Requests coupled with a free simple HR/Project management tool is why businesses are signing up in droves. The free, clean, ad-free platform is why social users are continuing to use the app to connect and Make Requests to make their lives a little easier.
As Fikowski waits to find out if he made a home run with any of the investors, the game must go on for GetAssist and it’s a fast paced, action packed game with exponential growth in app users and new markets.
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