Inspiration
My friend group consists of a bunch of the most non-communicative people I know. Someone always doesn't know what time something is, someone is coming half an hour late, or someone isn't available at that time. Sure, some limited solutions exist. For example, when2meet.com helps a little with the scheduling. However, it's super confusing to use. And despite how much tech there was, I was surprised there wasn't a simple platform that implements all these features. I haven't found a single app that uses my virtual credit card process to help split bills.
What it does
Uses MongoDB, Marqueta (a virtual card generation API), and Flask w/ React to create an easy-to-use but powerful app that lets users host events, share them easily with friends via a code, and coordinate everything in a meetup: location, time, bills, rides, ETAs, pictures, and event info.
How I built it
I used Flask (a Python web framework) for the backend. This draws and stores information from and in MongoDB. For the frontend, I used Next.js, a React framework to create an intuitive frontend that just...works. For the virtual credit card generation, I used Marqueta link, and on top of that, I used OpenAI's API to generate random events based on the user's location. For the pictures, I encoded them using GridFS to make storage in MongoDB easier. To handle the payments for actually loading the virtual Marqueta credit card, I used Stripe, a payment processing platform used by companies such as Google, Amazon, and Shopify.
Challenges I ran into
The biggest challenge I ran into was validating payments with Stripe and then allotting only the pre-loaded balance on the virtual credit card with Marqueta. It was tough to ensure everything was up to the security standards of Stripe, which is natural given two of the top five biggest companies use it.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
I actually would use this app, and hope you would too. To be honest, I sometimes create things that don't have a real use case in hackathons: there already exist better or alternative solutions to the same problem. However, this is a real problem that I've researched, and I've found no real competitors for the position I hope to occupy in the market.
What we learned
Sometimes, finding a great solution to a common problem is better than finding a 100%, works-every-time solution to a niche problem. Also, if there is a solution that works every time, there's probably a reason why it hasn't been pursued (often not that nobody has thought of it)
What's next for WinVite
I want to add more features based on user feedback that let people connect in ways never seen before. I plan to add "Groups," where hosts can pay $5/month to invite a bunch of people for multiple "Events".
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.