The new student-developed app that could change the way you see your city
Have you ever wondered where world-renowned chef Normand Laprise buys his knives? Or where fashion designer Denis Gagnon goes for midnight poutine?
Airborne, an iOS app developed by three Concordia graduates, was created to answer precisely this type of question. The software is set to launch in Apple’s Canadian App Store in mid-June.
The app will provide specialized tours of North American cities — starting with Montreal, where both Laprise and Gagnon live. The tours are curated by local celebrities, who reveal their favourite destinations and products; each one costs $1, but the app itself will be free.
The Airborne app, which took a year to develop, was among the first projects incubated at Concordia’s District 3 Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (D3) on the seventh floor of the Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (EV Building).
As Airborne co-founder Charles-Éric Gascon (BComm 12) explains, District 3 offered the team numerous advantages.
“D3 hosted us, giving us a space to work, and, most importantly, it opened doors inside Concordia so we could benefit from a network of expertise.”
Gascon created the app with Cristian Asenjo (BEng 13) and Mike Levkovsky (BEng 13). The process was not without its challenges.
“We learned that R&D is about failing until you succeed,” Gascon says. “We changed our product twice before we arrived at Airborne.”
District 3’s founding director Xavier-Henri Hervé (BEng 87) understands the pitfalls inherent in product development. He co-founded Mechtronix, a successful flight-simulation firm, in 1987.
To support what he calls D3’s “hatcheries” — small teams of innovators who try to turn ideas into marketable products — Hervé assigns mentors from his staff and Concordia alumni to work with them.
“We coach and guide, unlock problems and help assess risk,” he says. “We’re currently running 30 initiatives, and we have about 150 community members offering guidance.”
Airborne’s team benefited from input from Christopher A. Ross, chair of the Department of Marketing; Harold J. Simpkins, senior lecturer in the Department of Marketing; and Constantinos Constantinides, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, who consulted on Airborne’s infrastructure.
Alain Readman Valiquette, an entrepreneurial coach at District 3, helped the group secure the necessary funding to push the project forward. Rather than though investments, the money came in the form of grants.
“That allowed the guys to maintain full ownership of the product and not seek outside investors,” he says. “It’s all theirs.”
This summer, Gascon plans to develop Airborne content for New York City, Las Vegas and Chicago.
“Our app isn’t just for the tourist market,” he says. “It’s about encouraging locals to discover their own cities. Our curators provide a special window into their towns.”
Find out more about District 3.