By Deputy Editor Felix Mordaunt.

“Is it possible for four broke college students to build the next big events app with no budget, no events, and way too much confidence?” 

This was the question posed in an Instagram reel on the main page of Locanter, an app that proposes to find events for people in Dublin. The answer, ostensibly, is yes, as it’s set to launch on March 24th.

Locanter is an app developed by a team of four final-year DCU business students Rohan Polam, Mohammed Malik, Herkus Kairys and Frankie Rong. 

The aim of the app is to let the user know what events and activities are on in their area, easily giving them something to do on their free nights. As well as that, the team hopes to grow in the arts and events sector as more people become aware of what’s happening in their local area.

The group were inspired by their own experience with finding things to do around Dublin; they relied heavily on social media posts as well as hearing of events from friends to be able to organise and plan activities for themselves. As soon as the idea for Locanter came to them, their next steps were establishing if other people like themselves had this same issue.

According to Malik, the development team conducted a survey of over five-hundred people in Dublin, and found that over 80% of respondents depended on social media scrolling, or word-of-mouth to find things to do. 

He called that act of scrolling “fragmented” and “time-consuming”. Rather than searching for events yourself, Locanter seeks to do the searching for you, and all you have to do is attend.

Malik notes that the problem with current event apps is that companies aim to sell tickets to people and make a profit. What they don’t do is focus enough on the actual discovery of events.

Locanter is described as a “map-based” application. 

When asked what that meant, Malik said “There’s two main interfaces on our app. It will ask for your permission to access your location, and then when you open your app, it will show you things happening near you at the moment,” he explained.

“Second to that, we actually have a scrollable view, and this view you can sort of think of it like a ‘Tiktok for events’that’s going to be even more algorithmically driven, to show you what you’re actually interested in, and catered particularly to your interests.”

Locanter isn’t just made for those seeking to attend events themselves- it also functions as a way for organisers and business owners to easily advertise to people actively looking for something to do.

“The whole point of our business is that we want to make Dublin events more discoverable,” Malik said.

 “There are canvas organisers who we’ve even spoken to directly who’ve told us that getting discovered is still very difficult, and they’re relying on their social media posts. The purpose of Locanter for an event host is that you’re getting your thing [event] in front of people who are actually, in that moment, looking for things to go to,” he added.

Rather than advertising to an audience on social media that might not care about an event, or might not be looking for an activity, Locanter allows event planners to advertise to people who want something to go to. 

In terms of age demographics targeted, Malik affirmed that Locanter was for everyone. 

Having difficulty finding events in your area is not only an issue faced by young people, but by everyone, especially those groups that might not be as social media savvy. However, Malik did admit that in the initial stages, they were targeting groups that are more likely to be well-versed in modern technology. The survey was conducted chiefly in different university campuses.

Initially, the app will launch exclusively in Dublin. However, Malik revealed ambitious plans to expand not only to the rest of Ireland, but eventually even further.

“We want to scale across Ireland very quickly…We want it to be a solution for Ireland but we don’t want it to be a solution only for Ireland,” Malik explained.

The Locanter app is set to launch on the 24th of March, available for download on the iOS app store, as well as the Google Play Store. As well as that, Locanter’s Instagram page and website are already posting information on current events and activities around Dublin.

Image: Locanter co-founder Rohan Polam and Locanter’s mascot speaking to a group of over 200 DCU Students, from Locanter’s Instagram Page