MoneyMind

What our website looks like
Some of our brands

Inspiration

College students often have brilliant ideas and side hustles but lack the tools, networks, and financial knowledge to scale their ventures or sustain themselves. We saw firsthand how peers struggled to manage budgets, start businesses, or even find reliable peer-run services on campus. Inspired by this need, we created MoneyMind — a centralized platform designed to empower students to take control of their finances and entrepreneurial goals.

What it does

MoneyMind is a dual-sided platform that combines a student-run marketplace with personalized financial tools. Students can: • Discover and support student-run businesses. • Start their own business profile and gain exposure. • Create custom budgets and set financial goals. • Get matched with relevant services based on financial behavior. • Receive AI-powered insights and suggestions based on bank statement uploads.

It’s a space for both consumers and creators — where you can grow your wallet and your brand.

How we built it

We began with a clean, responsive template from HTML5 UP, an open-source HTML builder, which gave us a solid visual and layout foundation to build on. From there, we transformed the static template into a fully functional web application.

We added features like: • A dual-mode login system for both students and business owners • Budgeting tools, financial goal tracking, and personalized insights stored using localStorage • PDF upload functionality that reads bank statements to generate smart financial suggestions • A Gemini-powered chatbot that interacts with users to answer financial questions, offer startup advice, and provide insights based on their data

We also used GitHub throughout development to manage collaboration, version control, and ensure smooth teamwork. Our repo allowed for seamless task distribution, feature branching, and bug tracking — which was essential as we iterated quickly and deployed updates.

Challenges we ran into

• Making financial data feel personal but secure.
• Designing dual-user experiences (students vs. business owners) in a cohesive UI.
• Handling edge cases for dynamic budget goals and custom categories.
• Ensuring real-time updates for spending alerts and budget summaries.

Accomplishments that we’re proud of

• Built a fully functional multi-user system with AI integration and PDF parsing.
• Created a user-friendly financial dashboard with custom budget categories.
• Designed a marketplace that makes student-run businesses more discoverable.
• Implemented goal-based financial insights that feel relevant and actionable.

What we learned

• UX matters a lot, especially when balancing multiple user types.
• Building for real financial data requires thoughtful structure and feedback loops.
• Students are excited to be financially independent — they just need the right tools.
• How to scope features that are both ambitious and realistic within a hackathon sprint.

What’s next for MoneyMind

We’re working on: • Adding a campus-specific gig/job board with business-owner notification systems. • Expanding AI chat support for investment advice, grant recommendations, and business startup steps.