Fishbowl

A few screenshots of our app where users may swipe to view, express interest, and invest in various start-up ideas.
A screenshot from our website for start-ups to enter their information to be a part of Fishbowl.

Inspiration

As devoted Shark Tank enthusiasts eager to dive into the world of entrepreneurial investment, we embarked on a journey to establish Fishbowl. Recognizing the formidable challenges entrepreneurs face when seeking financial support, we also understood the burning desire of everyday individuals to be a part of this exciting venture. With Fishbowl, our mission is to bridge this gap by democratizing the investment process and allowing anyone to invest in startups, regardless of their financial status or background. This way, startups can get the funding they need to grow, while ordinary people can participate in the exciting world of entrepreneurship.

What it does

Fishbowl, our groundbreaking investment app, provides a dynamic platform for visionary startups to showcase their potential through compelling videos and data. With a clearly defined fundraising target, these innovative entrepreneurs present their concepts, inviting users to not only explore but also pledge their support. As users swipe through the diverse array of investment opportunities, they have the opportunity to allocate their funds to startups that pique their interest. When they make a commitment, a legally binding contract is generated, outlining the specifics of share transfer upon the successful achievement of the funding goal. Once the funding objective is met, users become proud shareholders in the burgeoning enterprise, while the startup secures the essential capital required to transform their vision into a reality.

How we built it

Leveraging the power of Flutter and React, as well as a custom-made machine-learning recommendation algorithm, we've crafted a seamless, user-friendly front-end experience that promises to captivate our users, while providing them with exciting possible investments. Our primary application involves a feed the users can scroll through to get easy-to-absorb detailed information on the start-up giving the user an opportunity to invest in the future of the venture. We then generate a legal document for the user to contribute to the funding of the idea and receive future dividends as a shareholder of the company. If not sure, one may also save the company to their bookmarks for future reference and sort them by industry. Furthermore, we were able to create a financial ledger displaying the anonymized version of transaction within the market we are able to create within Fishbowl.

In the back end, we've harnessed the robust capabilities of Firestore, a cutting-edge solution, to effectively manage and store our data. This secure and scalable database technology enables us to maintain real-time access to critical information, ensuring that the backbone of our platform is both efficient and dependable. Powered by machine learning, we ensure our users get the recommendations they are interested in and within the limits of what they are looking for. Thus, we are an app for all kinds of investors - from Senior Investors at VCs to just about anyone interested in any local business idea or excited by the thought of investing in start-ups.

We also created a separate platform for start-up founders to apply to be on our application and receive funding through Fishbowl. This will give local start-up and business owners the initial seed funding necessary to succeed and will allow them to better connect with those interested in the start-up community.

Challenges we ran into

Generating contracts on our platform proved to be a complex task, as it demanded versatile contracts on demand that were concise and easy to read, to maintain the user-focused aspect of Fishbowl. Additionally, shaping a machine learning algorithm for startup recommendations introduced its own challenges, where prioritizing factors and availability were crucial. Various animations were quite difficult to produce especially as we had various forms of media (video, text, images) all at once. With the user's experience in mind, we had to ensure everything was clear and satisfying to use.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Foremost, we find deep satisfaction in our mission to democratize investment, making it inclusive for individuals from all walks of life. We also take pride in our user-focused approach, characterized by a seamless and user-friendly experience, clear contracts, and innovative technology. Our utilization of cutting-edge tools like Flutter, React, and Firestore, along with the development of a custom machine-learning algorithm, underscores our commitment to delivering a state-of-the-art platform. As a group of students extremely interested in start-ups ourselves, we would love to pursue this opportunity of providing start-ups and businesses with the crucial funding and visibility they need to bring their innovative ideas to fruition.

What we learned

We gained valuable insights into the intricacies of contract generation, appreciating the delicate balance required between user-friendliness and legal precision. We also learned about the complexity of recommendation algorithms and usability features like those in TikTok and Instagram, especially managing them and recommending them to the right people.

We all learned a lot more about various technology stacks like Flutter, React, and Firebase, and working with LLMs, as we are simultaneously battling the difficulty of keeping the design user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing.

What's next for Fishbowl

We plan on posting Fishbowl on Fishbowl to secure funding to take our app to the next level. Beyond that, we would like to add more features for investors such as more personalized preferences, and potentially exclusive start-up postings, as well as improving our UI to give a better platform for start-ups to pitch themselves. Finally, we also want to add a comment section, live discussions with founders, and bond offerings.