Special Cons
Darryl Radita Kaela Michi Asher Milo Wibrata Alfons Dennis Dealson
Slides Link
Inspiration
Our app is not meant to tell users that a business will definitely be profitable or definitely fail. It is also not a full due diligence tool that checks everything such as financial statements, leases, taxes, staffing, legal issues, and so on. What our app actually is, is a pre-investment market risk checker for people who want to buy a small business in the U.S.
So what does “invest” mean here? It means investing money into buying the business. For example, someone might want to buy a laundromat, a café, a daycare, or a small retail store. Before they commit a large amount of money, they enter the company name or business name, and optionally the city or state if the name is too generic. The app then searches for that target business in the database and resolves it to its address, category, and location. After that, it checks whether the area is too crowded with competitors, whether similar businesses in that area tend to close down often, whether nearby competitors appear stable, whether the target business itself has red flags, and whether the surrounding local commercial ecosystem is supportive.
So what does the output look like? It is not “yes, buy” or “no, don’t buy.” Instead, it gives a verdict more like Proceed, Proceed with Caution, or Avoid. “Proceed” means that from a local market perspective, the listing looks relatively healthy. “Proceed with Caution” means there may be potential, but there are some risks that require deeper investigation. “Avoid” means there are enough warning signs in the surrounding market that the deal looks dangerous. In other words, the app helps answer this question: “From a local market point of view, does this business look healthy enough to be worth investigating further?” So the app is a screening tool. It does not make the final investment decision, but it helps buyers avoid buying blindly, avoid being misled by listings that look good on the surface, and understand whether a deal looks healthy, risky, or suspicious.
How does it work? The app combines Foursquare Places data to analyse competitors, the surrounding business ecosystem, closures, category churn, and unresolved flags, with U.S. Census, BLS, and SBA data to provide broader market context. It then generates a risk report built from several components: market saturation (are there too many similar competitors nearby?), category churn (do similar businesses in the area open and close frequently?), competitor stability (do nearby competitors appear to survive over time or is the market unstable?), target red flags (does the target itself show warning signs?), and local commercial ecosystem (does the surrounding area commercially support this type of business?). So in simple terms, if someone wants to buy a business, the app says: “Based on the local market around this business, this deal looks relatively healthy, risky, oversaturated, or unstable.” Or more naturally: “Search the business by name, and we’ll assess whether the surrounding local market makes the acquisition look healthy enough to investigate
What it does
A pre-investment market risk screener. Search or browse a U.S. small business, see a risk verdict, signal breakdown, nearby competitors, and all of it anchored on an interactive 3D globe that zooms cinematically into a street-level map.
How we built it
We used typescript react for the frontend and python for the API backend
Challenges we ran into
did not deploy the API online
Accomplishments that we're proud of
created an API and a working map
What we learned
choose the right teammate
What's next for Acquira (Special_cons)
Go Global
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